"I'm not Angry Joe," said Joseph Parker after knocking out Alexander Flores in Christchurch, "just Joe that wanted to prove a point."
To that you could probably add Relieved Joe, but also Slightly Dissatisfied Joe. Parker ticked virtually all the boxes in dispatching Flores near the end of the third round at Horncastle Arena on Saturday but realises following a dramatic evening of boxing which won't make his promoter David Higgins much, if any, money, that there are far bigger tests ahead.
This was always going to be a break-even-type promotion for Higgins as Parker attempted to bounce back from two defeats from the safety of New Zealand, but it was also a virtual no-win scenario for Parker and there was pressure on him to deliver.
Had Flores, a Mexican-American who probably wouldn't be recognised in his own Los Angeles street, taken Parker the distance it would have been seen as a rank failure on the New Zealander's part. A loss would have been catastrophic.
Parker had to stop him and he had to stop him impressively. He did that despite the low blows being the initial talking point because Flores looked technically sound early on and asked Parker a couple of questions with a decent jab and sneaky right-hand counter punch.