John Parker, younger brother of boxer Joseph, has revealed he will need to have major surgery if he wants to continue his own boxing career.
The 24-year-old was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm weeks out from Joseph's heavyweight unification fight with Anthony Joshua in Cardiff on April 1 (NZ time).
- Heavyweights bulk up for London bout
- Higgins makes huge bet on Parker victory
- Parker promises 'bad intentions'
He was scheduled to fight on the undercard, but the discovery of an aneurysm in an MRI scan before the bout ended any hopes of that.
A brain aneurysm is a bulge in a blood vessel in the brain, which is often symptom-free. But should it rupture, it can be deadly.
It was a bitter pill to swallow ahead biggest night of his brother's life, but now he has to decide if he wants to hang up the gloves or undergo surgery.
"It's small enough that I can do everything on a daily basis without a problem, but if I want to box again - which I haven't decided just yet - I will most likely have to have an operation," John told Stuff.
"It's between two operations; one is where they drill a hole through my temple, and they clip it for good, or the other option is they can thread a wire through my groin, and they clamp it, which they will have to do every so often.
"The neurosurgeon I saw was confident he could do a good job, but there is always that risk [but] the last thing I want is to be paralysed or something and to be a burden on anyone.
"My mind just came right - yesterday I got back into training. I'm lucky I can lose weight quite quickly. I want to get back into shape, so when it comes to operating or not, I'll be healthy and fit and will react well to the procedures."
He admitted it was hard telling Joseph about the devastating news.
"When I found out, I was like 'can I still fight?' They were nah, nah, nah, this is serious.
"So I went back in and told Joe, and he was like 'are you all right?' Yeah man, stuff this - I'm not going to let this aneurysm get me."
He has fought three times for three wins as a professional - all on Joseph's undercards.
John is in London this weekend and will be in his brother's corner for his heavyweight bout against Dillian Whyte in front of a sold-out 02 Arena in what will be a career-defining fight for both fighters.
A win for either fighter would put them in pole position to challenge for Deontay Wilder's WBC championship, and Joshua's WBO, WBA and IBF belts.
John said he is confident his brother will prevail in the ring.
"I made a prediction earlier in the week, and I'm sticking by it. It's goodbye to Dillian Whyte in round three," he said.
Newshub.
