Coach Kevin Barry has identified the ideal path he sees for Joseph Parker's journey to a big money fight with IBF and WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
The heavy-hitting Brit came back from major adversity in a knockout win over Wladimir Klitschko in London on Sunday morning (NZ time) to unify the two belts.
Parker's trainer believes that a match-up with outspoken British slugger Tony Bellew makes the most sense if the Kiwi can successfully defend his title against Romanian Razvan Cojanu in Auckland next weekend.
Barry said that Parker and his team must now switch their focus to the UK market, as that's now the centrepiece of the heavyweight boxing scene.
"Everything going well [a win against Cojanu], we will be taking Joe abroad," Barry told Newshub.
"One fight that is being talked up in the boxing media at the moment is Tony Bellew. I like the style for Joe, he's a guy that's very popular in the UK with a large fan base and we consider this a great introduction for Joe to the UK boxing media, fans and public.
"The Bellew fight, we see as, with the right result, will lead Joe into a fight with Joshua."
Although extremely impressed with the heart that Joshua showed in overcoming a knockdown in round six to eventually stop the Ukrainian giant, Barry saw plenty of areas of opportunity he feels his charge can, and will, expose.
"I also saw a lot of vulnerability there with Joshua - he is quite one-dimensional. I'm looking at the fight as the coach of Joseph Parker and what he could do against Anthony Joshua," Barry said.
"[Joshua] is very robotic and doesn't have a wide punch selection. One thing he does have however is phenomenal power is his right hand, so in gearing someone up to take on a guy like Joshua, it would all be about a lot of movement; you have to keep turning him."
In an interview with Andrew Gourdie and Jim Kayes on RadioLIVE, Barry said that Parker is technically superior to the big Englishman and, Joshua's power aside, Parker has the advantage in all facets.
Newshub.
