Joseph Parker has been in the thick of it, training alongside Tyson Fury in Thailand ahead of the Gypsy King’s return fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov on Saturday. And according to Parker, Fury has never looked sharper.
The New Zealander has embedded himself in Fury’s latest camp in Pattaya, witnessing first-hand a preparation that feels markedly different – not just in location, but in intensity, mood and intent. This is not the familiar Morecambe Bay backdrop, nor one of Fury’s occasional European excursions. Instead, it is a heat-soaked, back-to-basics grind built on sweat, repetition and a clear message: the comeback is serious.
‘Thailand is a very different place from what I’m used to in terms of training,’ Joseph Parker explains. ‘Usually Tyson’s in Morecambe Bay. He’s trained overseas before, in France a few times, but for me it’s always been Morecambe. Then you go to Thailand, where the sun is shining every day, the food is very good, and he had a great setup there at the gym he was using.
‘He had all the weights there, the boxing gym at the top, recovery facilities, and then the place where you’re staying. He invited me into camp and I said, ‘You know what, I want to come over, Tyson.’
‘So I went over for two weeks with my wife and kids. Then I was getting ready to fly home and he said, ‘Can you come back just to be a part of the camp and help me out?’
‘I thought about it and was like, what am I doing back home? Yeah, I’m spending time with family, which for me is the best thing in the world. But I also missed the sport and being around boxing.
Joseph Parker has been in the thick of it, training alongside Tyson Fury in Thailand ahead of the Gypsy King’s return fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov on Saturday
According to Parker – who is good friends with the Gypsy King – Fury has never looked sharper
Fury sat down with Daily Mail Sport for an exclusive interview which can be found on YouTube
‘Tyson works hard, he really does. He’s taking this fight very seriously, to the point where it’s like he’s preparing as if he’s fighting a world champion. That’s the respect he has for the sport and the game. So I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s going to do, because it’s been a great camp.’
That seriousness has been evident in every detail of the camp. Fury, who has previously used Thailand ahead of bouts with Francis Ngannou and Oleksandr Usyk, has once again embraced the punishing climate and stripped-back approach.
Training out of ISS Boxing & Muay Thai, living not in luxury accommodation but on a boat in the harbour, and working under the watchful eye of Robert McInnes, known as ‘Sifu’ and Sugar Hill Steward, the former world champion has sought to rediscover something elemental.
Even recovery, Parker admits, has taken on a more unconventional – and at times eyebrow-raising – edge, with Fury embracing the full Thai treatment, from post-session massages carried out on the gym floor to the now-viral scenes of him being stretched, kneaded and covered in oils by local therapists as part of his recovery routine.
‘Listen, you don’t know until you try it. It’s not bad at all. After sessions, I’ll go downstairs and get my massage done, and then when he comes down, I’m finished and he gets his.
‘It’s one of those things where, when I got to camp, they said to me, ‘Try this.’ And I was like, ‘What? Try what?’ Obviously I gave it a go, and I thought, you know what, it’s not bad. It actually has some benefits, especially doing it straight after training.
‘So yeah, he has different ways and a different method of recovery, but it’s worked. I’ve seen it work.’
But beyond the novelty of ice baths, massages and humidity, it is Fury himself who has drawn the most attention – particularly given the noise surrounding him.
Parker regularly joins Fury in camp, training alongside him and also sparring him
Fury (c) and Parker (right) pictured at Wednesday’s grand arrivals in London on fight week
His father, John Fury, has publicly questioned the comeback, warning his son is ‘finished’ and claiming his legs are gone. Those concerns have only heightened scrutiny on what version of Fury will step through the ropes this weekend.
Inside the camp, Parker paints a very different picture.
‘I feel like, and I know everyone always says this, that it’s the best Tyson Fury we’ve seen in a long time. But I can truly say this is the best I’ve seen him in a long time.
‘I know he trained hard for the Usyk fights, and I wasn’t involved in those camps, but being in this camp, the mood, the environment, the vibes, the energy – and having no injuries going into a fight – there’s something about that which really helps mentally.
‘So I feel like everyone wants to see the best, but you’ll just have to wait and see.’
If there were lingering doubts about those legs, Parker offers a vivid rebuttal – not in theory, but in the suffocating reality of sparring rounds under the Thai sun.
‘We haven’t been out of Thailand. It’s so hot in that gym, and after about four or five rounds of sparring I could physically feel how tired my body was.
‘He was doing 10 or 12 rounds with three or four fresh guys. Now you tell me if he’s still got it or not. It’s tough. So he’s doing everything right.
Parker has dismissed John Fury’s claims that his son’s legs are ‘gone’ and that he’s ‘done’
‘I can explain it and talk about what’s happened in camp, but until you see how he performs on fight night, you won’t truly know how hard he’s trained for this comeback against Makhmudov.’
The expectation, then, is not merely victory, but a statement. This is, after all, the return of the Gypsy King – a fighter who has built a career as much on theatre as on triumph.
‘He can do 12 rounds easily, because I’ve seen how hard he trains and how fit he is. But I feel like he has to put on a show and make it a statement fight, that’s what I think.
‘Because now he’s returning, it’s the return of the Gypsy King, so he has to make it a ‘here I am, I’m back’ moment. A win is a win, but when you’re coming back and you want to make a statement, it has to be done in a certain way.
‘Come on, Tyson!’
The wider heavyweight landscape only adds intrigue. Recent footage of Anthony Joshua linking up with Usyk – the very man who twice defeated him – has sparked fascination, while Fury himself has joked online about forming a counter ‘iconic duo’ with Parker. The Kiwi is more than happy to lean into the fantasy.
‘Imagine if we tag-teamed them! Yeah, like a tag-team fight where he does a few rounds, then I come in. I don’t know how it would be set up or how it would work. But me and him rotating, or whatever team is out there… let’s make it happen.’
For now, though, the focus remains firmly on Saturday night and on a division still coming to terms with the passage of time. The recent clash between Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora served as a stark reminder of that reality, a fight that left many uneasy despite its competitive edge.
The wider heavyweight landscape only adds intrigue. Recent footage of Anthony Joshua linking up with Usyk – the very man who twice defeated him – has sparked fascination
Fury has previously referred to the fight between Wilder and Chisora on Saturday as ‘sad’
‘Wilder was a great fighter in his prime, and Derek was a great fighter in his prime. But to see them come together at this stage of their careers, at the ages they are now, it was quite a hard fight to watch.
‘It was one of those fights where you expected it to be different, or maybe a bit better. They’re both legends of the sport, so it was tough to watch. But I’m glad they both came out okay, that nothing too serious happened to either of them, and that they can go back to their families.’
It is a sobering backdrop to Fury’s return, a reminder of what is at stake when fighters stay too long, and of the fine line between revival and decline. Yet inside that sweltering Pattaya gym, Parker insists, there is no sense of a man clinging on. Instead, he describes a fighter renewed, refocused and, perhaps most crucially, pain-free.
Whether that translates into dominance against Makhmudov remains to be seen. But if Parker’s account is anything to go by, Fury is not returning quietly. He is preparing to remind the heavyweight division exactly who he is and, in his own words, to declare: here I am, I am back.
