‘Highly Suspicious’: Weird Pre-Fight ‘Robbery’ Drama from Joseph Parker, Junior Fa

On the eve of one of the greatest fights in New Zealand boxing history, a strange skirmish has broken out between opposing camps.

The source of the antagonism: a gift of boxing gloves from Joseph Parker’s camp to Junior Fa’s trainer, Eugene Bareman, who was quickly reneged.

After the weigh-in at the Auckland Viaduct, Parker and Fa’s respective entourages retreated to a nearby room along with representatives from the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association and the World Boxing Organization.

This is where the rules of the fight are reviewed and the gloves are inspected.

It’s a tedious procedure that should have been eased with an agreement that each fighter’s gloves had to be factory-made and had to be delivered sealed before being opened by Pat Leonard of the NZPBA.

Once the gloves are approved by all parties and signed, it usually means the end of any pre-fight intrigue, but this time it was just the beginning.

Bareman asked Parker if he could have one of the spare pairs as a souvenir (each fighter brings three pairs, valued at roughly $ 500 each, but only one is reserved for the fight) and the fighter agreed.

That has been verified by witnesses. From there it gets a bit murky.

It appears Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry saw Bareman walk away with gloves and objected.

A Duco employee was given the unenviable task of tracking down Bareman and securing the return of the souvenir.

“It was very, very strange behavior,” Bareman said. “He tried to snatch the gloves from my hand. For a moment, I felt like I was being robbed.”

After asking what was going on, Bareman was told that he couldn’t have the gloves because he would have the advantage of being able to cut them and analyze what was inside.

That raised Bareman’s antenna to high alert.

“These are meant to be factory gloves,” he said. “Why would you want to cut this pair open? You should be able to go to a store or order them online if you wanted to open a pair and see what’s in them.

“It is very suspicious behavior.”

Fa’s manager, Mark Keddell, is also concerned about Parker’s camp gift return policy.

“What are they hiding so that they would later want them back so desperately?”

Bareman said his position made him responsible for the safety of his athlete and that there were many ways that gloves could be manipulated to give fighters an advantage.

I was not accusing Parker and Barry of doing anything improper, but the events “left me no choice” but to insist that officers and each camp meet again on fight day to re-inspect the gloves, including the cut. of the spare parts.

Parker’s manager David Higgins described the uproar as “a waste of everyone’s time” and said there was a simple and innocent explanation for the scenes.

“Kevin didn’t want to give them a $ 500 gift the day before the fight. The gloves were inspected by officers and approved by Eugene. The rest is bullshit.

“If you really want a souvenir, you can come see me after Joseph defeats Junior and I will give you some free gloves.”