Boxing: Thompson tries to fire up Parker camp

Keith Thompson has had nine pro fights.

As a military firefighter, Keith Thompson became used to quickly summing up difficult situations and believes Joseph Parker's disrupted build-up to their fight in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, next Sunday will play into his hands.

In truth, New Zealand heavyweight Parker will be an overwhelming favourite for victory, and the fact the bout, promoted by Main Event, will be screened live on American television will up the ante for a knockout.

However, 33-year-old Thompson believes the odds have shifted slightly in his favour for what will be the biggest fight of his life.

"It won't hurt me. He can have all the jetlag he wants," Thompson said about Parker's difficulty getting a US visa which has severely curtailed his training camp in Las Vegas. Parker received his work permit on Thursday and left that night for a camp at his base which will feature less sparring than he would have liked.

"I'm glad he got over here," Thompson said. "I'm glad we're going to get to fight, no doubt about that, [but] to shorten up his training camp and fly 24 hours and then fight, that's not going to benefit him."

As a result of the disrupted build-up, Parker's camp requested the fight be shortened to six rounds, something Thompson, who has never fought beyond four rounds, readily agreed to.

"I had no problem when they shifted it to six rounds. I said, 'heck yeah, we can go four if you want'."

Thompson started his professional boxing career in 2005 but has fought only nine times. He took four years off to concentrate on MMA, which he said he enjoyed, and his eight years in the navy also took him away from the fight game. Thompson served on an aircraft carrier as a firefighter, a career he has continued outside the military, although he remains a reservist, serving one weekend a month.

He has fought twice over the past 12 months, for a win and a loss, but mainly puts his skills to use through sparring - he trained with undefeated American Deontay Wilder this week.

While he has been impressed with 22-year-old Parker, Thompson said the Kiwi had weaknesses.

"I think there are definitely opportunities to be able to beat him. He makes mistakes. No one has really been able to make him pay for it yet. He gets over-aggressive.

"I think he is beatable. He has been up against some pretty good competition but nothing great. Brian Minto is a tough guy, there's no doubt about that, and even the Brazilian [Marcelo Nascimento], he came to fight, he was tough. They are the two biggest names on his resume."