Boxing: Joseph Parker to be ringside at Hughie Fury fight

Joseph Parker. Photo / Getty

New Zealand's world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker will be ringside at Hughie Fury's warm-up fight in London on July 8.

Parker will attend the bout between Englishman Fury and his as yet unconfirmed opponent at the 7,500 capacity Copper Box Arena at East London's Olympic Park with promoter David Higgins in order to view his next challenger up close and personal and also to help promote the fight which will be held in the United Kingdom and possibly in September.

While the eventual match-up between Fury, Parker's mandatory challenger for the WBO heavyweight title, and the Kiwi will be held in a bigger arena amidst far more fanfare, the experience of watching Fury fight should assist in Parker's preparation.

The pair will probably meet afterwards, which could also be an interesting experience. Fury left Parker and his camp in the lurch a fortnight before their scheduled May 6 fight in Auckland when pulling out with a back injury, with Parker instead fighting former sparring partner Razvan Cojanu, a fight which went the distance.

It was felt by Parker's promoter Higgins, who has since split with business partner Dean Lonergan, that Fury and his corner never wanted to come to New Zealand for the fight and that the injury was a convenient way to dodge it.

Nevertheless, medical evidence was sent to the WBO and the organization decided Fury remained the mandatory challenger. Fury gave up on a career-high purse of about $1.6million, and this time his promoter Frank Warren carries all the risk.

"I can't wait to get back under the lights and do what I do best," said Fury, who hopes to emulate cousin Tyson and win a world heavyweight title.

"I was disappointed to miss out my shot against Parker but this is boxing and injuries happen all of the time. I will get my shot at the WBO heavyweight belt later this year and follow in the footsteps of Tyson."

Trainer and father Peter Fury said Hughie had fully recovered from his back injury and his next fight was an opportunity to stay busy ahead of his challenge against Parker.

"We are treating this fight as a warm-up to the big one later this year. The division is certainly opening up with plenty of opportunities and we are confident that Hughie is going to figure dominantly for years to come."

Warren said: "He needs to get this warm-up fight out of the way before he faces Parker later in the year. I am confident that the WBO heavyweight belt will once again be in possession of the Fury family come the end of the year."

Parker's fight in May meant he missed the opportunity to view the epic Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko fight at Wembley in person. His impending visit to England will allow him to slowly but surely increase his profile in what is undoubtedly the current home of heavyweight boxing.