Joseph Parker is a fashion icon. Photo / Photosport
Joseph Parker is a fashion icon. Photo / Photosport
Joseph Parker is many things: WBO heavyweight champion, undefeated in 24 fights, the pride of New Zealand and Samoa.
But at the latest Team Parker press conference ahead of his heavyweight unification bout against Anthony Joshua, the Kiwi champ debuted a new Joseph Parker: Fashion Icon.
Donning a charcoal suit, a newsboy flat hat, and a tan overcoat straight out of an ASOS catalogue, Parker looked the sharpest he's ever looked.
Here are five important takeaways from Parker's bold, new 20th century Londoner aesthetic:
Who knew that lurking beneath the sometimes dry, monotone Parker persona lies a burgeoning style icon?
Parker's new look - 1920s crime boss meets GQ magazine - was a picture of a man full of confidence. But most importantly, it showed that Parker was relaxed and willing to have some fun, a good indicator of the fighter's psyche just a few days out from the biggest bout of his career.
1. The hat - not many can pull off a hat like that without looking like a pretentious hipster. 2. The coat - fire emoji. 3. The tie - woollen ties are underrated. 4. The shoes - tied the outfit together nicely. 5. The suit - it was fine.
Joseph Parker looking very cool. Photo / Photosport
He is a fan of the TV show Peaky Blinders
Parker later revealed the inspiration for his look, and that the hat was in fact a gift from his mates visiting from New Zealand.
"My good friends that are here from New Zealand went shopping - I told them that I started watching this programme Peaky Blinders - and so they saw it and said 'this suits Joseph,'" Parker told ESPN UK.
Sports stars, they're just like us!
For those who aren't aware, Peaky Blinders is a critically acclaimed British television crime drama starring a very cool looking Cillian Murphy who also wears a hat very well.
He understands the fight game
Ever since prizefighters realised that their performance outside the ring correlates with how much money they could make inside of it, more fighters have stepped out of their shell to display more personality.
In recent times, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been the king of the fight game. The problematic and polarising boxing star - who is also the highest paid sportsman on the planet - is as studied on the machinations of American capitalism as he is skilled in the art of the shoulder roll.
Then of course, came Conor McGregor, a swaggering human peacock who took ostentatiousness to a whole new level. Both fighters knew what sold and turned it into a money making machine.
Parker is clearly not that type of fighter. But in this post-Mayweather-McGregor era, there has been a noticeable shift in the way that many fighters, including Parker, have treated things like media obligations and public appearances.
This Peaky Blinders look showed a side of Parker that we haven't seen before - the keen to impress, Netflix watching, business savvy fighter who can entertain both inside and outside the ring.
He is as charming and confident as ever
This level of flamboyance is not something we're used to seeing from the low key, understated fighter we know as 'Gentleman Joe'. That's not to say Parker has left his gentleman days behind. (If this outfit isn't gentlemanly, then I don't know what is.) But there does seem to be an extra pep to his step these days.
While Joshua chose to showcase his dislike for Parker this past week, calling him "weird" and "backstabbing", the calm and composed Kiwi jabbed back with style (in more ways than one).
"It's very interesting that he said that because he's sort of stepped out of his comfort zone and said something interesting," quipped Parker at the press conference.
"He's been boring lately, but it's good, you know? I think he's taken that first step and hopefully we'll see more of that."
Anthony Joshua is boring
Put this new and improved Parker next to Joshua, and it will be clear which fighter most people would prefer to hang out with. On one side, you have a guy who has proven that he can pull off wearing an early 20th century cheese-cutter hat in 2018, and on the other end you have a fighter who is gearing up for a future career in politics.
Also, Joshua has never impersonated a Cillian Murphy character, doesn't look as good in a suit, and definitely could not pull off wearing that hat.
Parker has differentiated himself as the more charismatic, confident and certainly the more stylish fighter, despite being constantly told that he is the underdog. And as both fighters head into April 1 looking for every advantage possible, Joshua will need to step up his game because Parker is having a peaky blinder.
