Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker will cash in heavily on his world champion status when he defends his WBO title against mandatory challenger Hughie Fury in Manchester in September.
The South Aucklander and his promoter David Higgins spoke to media at Auckland International Airport on Tuesday as they prepared to make their way to England to kick off promotions for the bout, with Higgins confirming Parker would be in line for a significant payday for his efforts.
"It will be seven-figure, but I don’t want to discuss his private business with you," quipped Higgins when quizzed on the financial specifics.
With current IBF champion Anthony Joshua at its forefront, the centre of the current heavyweight landscape currently lies in the United Kingdom and it's a market on which they're eager to make an instant impression.
Higgins believes a convincing win may well stand Parker in line for a potential title unification fight against Joshua at Wembley.
Parker himself admits it's a notion too far-flung to consider just yet, preferring to adopt a more straightforward approach to the immediate challenge at hand.
After an uneven performance in his debut defence against Razvan Cojanu, who was called in as a late injury replacement for Fury back in May, the 25-year-old is well aware of his need for an eye-catching performance against the Mancunian.
"I know there's a lot of doubters out there but I'll use my fists…let them do the talking and knock someone out," said Parker.
"I need to make a statement, so that's what I'm going to do. And if I don’t knock him out then I'll kick him," he added with a chuckle.
Parker will also be afforded a valuable opportunity to take in his upcoming opponent first-hand as he takes a ringside seat for Hughie Fury's warm-up fight in London on Sunday (NZT) against an opponent who's yet to be named.
"We'll be studying him and watching him and seeing how they operate when they're in a fight situation, seeing what his positives and weaknesses are.
Although Parker already has a fairly clear idea of just how he'll approach the Manchester-based slugger, who hasn't fought in almost 15 months.
"He brings a lot of movement, uses the ring pretty good and he's got a long reach, so I'll just have to chase him down and smash his body then hopefully catch him on the chin."
In parting, Parker added a brief vote of confidence for Duco stablemate Jeff Horn, who's come in for plenty of criticism following a unanimous decision win over Manny Pacquiao on Sunday, a contest many believed should clearly have gone in the Filipino's favour.
"I felt it went the right way. I felt like Jeff Horn deserved the win. He did a lot of work and looked really good, so I'm really happy for him."
From London the next destination for Team Parker will be Las Vegas, where preparations will begin in earnest for what will be his first title defence on foreign soil under the brightest lights of his career to date.
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