OPINION: Joseph Parker didn't need to fight Dillian Whyte.
At 26 years old, having suffered the first defeat of his career, it would have been easier for Parker to, well, take it easy. Go on a holiday, come back, knock over some average fighters at home, pad out your record, pick up the pay cheque.
A bit like Dillian Whyte did after he lost to Anthony Joshua in 2015.
But no, Joseph Parker has responded to his first defeat by stepping into the ring for a risky - even dangerous - fight against a man with a near-identical record fighting in front of his home crowd.
All of which really makes a complete mockery of Whyte's suggestion - six times over - that Joseph Parker is a coward.
This is trash talk of the worst kind. I get what he's trying to say - Parker had his chance against Anthony Joshua and he didn't take it.
He didn't give the best performance he could give at the Principality Stadium. He didn't throw enough punches in the latter rounds - he lost his title.
But the fact he even had a chance to get in the ring with Joshua came about through being courageous, not a coward.
And as some people, including Whyte, question whether Parker still has the hunger - the fire in his belly - to be the best in the world, it's worth taking a look at some of the risk, perhaps even unnecessary ones, that Parker and his team have taken during his career.
It's a little more than two years since a 24-year old Parker faced Carlos Takam in a fight that nearly saw him crash, as he pulled out of the driveway on his road to the title.
In hindsight, it was bordering on reckless to take on an experienced, respected fighter like Takam, but Parker backed himself and got the job done.
Three wins later, he had his world title.
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Now he could have done what Deontay Wilder has done for most of his tenure as WBC champion - sit on your title and fight at home against average boxers.
No, Parker had his eyes on Anthony Joshua.
Joshua wasn't going to come to him - he had to go to Joshua - so he risks his title by travelling to the UK to make a name for himself. He takes on Hughie Fury in Fury's own backyard and he wins.
That takes guts. He doesn't deliver an eye-catching performance, but it helps him achieve his target of a fight with Joshua.
That's taking matters into your own hands.
And what has Whyte done? He’s lost to an up-and-coming Anthony Joshua, before the champ was a champ, and... that’s about it.
He's taken few risks and fought once outside the UK. Thirty years old and he's barely left home.
Who's the coward here?
Whyte is a good, aggressive fighter. Parker is taking on a serious challenge this weekend.
On the back of a first loss, this is a significant moment in his career. He slipped against Joshua, but a defeat to Whyte would see him fall down the heavyweight ranks, with a tough road to recovery ahead.
Win, though, and it's on. It confirms his status as a top-five heavyweight and he’s well in the mix for another shot at the title.
That's why Kiwis like him. As a boxer, he’s ambitious, and he’s not afraid of anyone or anything.
For that, Parker deserves more respect than he's received from Dillian Whyte. Given what’s at stake for him at this precarious stage of his career, accepting this fight has proved Joseph Parker is certainly not a coward.
Andrew Gourdie is Newshub sports presenter and hosts RadioLIVE's Sunday Sport.
