Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker has revealed he's had surgery ahead of the postponed heavyweight showdown against Junior Fa.
The fight was rescheduled from December to February 27, after Fa was forced to have emergency surgery himself.
That delay has given Parker enough time to fix an elbow injury that continues to plague his boxing career.
Parker has undergone two surgeries, one on each elbow to clear bone chips and inflammation that's built up from fighting.
It's the same surgery he had in November 2017, five months before his heavyweight title fight against Anthony Joshua.
This time around there's only three months to recover between surgery and fight, which he believes shouldn't be a problem.
"I reckon by February 27 I'm going to be way better, Parker says. "Stronger, faster. No injuries, no problems."
Meanwhile, Fa has recovered better than expected from his undisclosed surgery.
"He's been 40 min running already, which is fantastic," says manager Mark Keddell. "So, he's way ahead of the curve."
Helping Fa with that training will be UFC stars Israel Adesanya and Carlos Uhlberg.
They'll be Fa's sparring partners before their own fights in the US.
"We will fly out to America the day after Junior's fight, so that puts them doing the same camps simultaneously."
David Nykia remains the man that's set to prepare Parker for what he hopes is his statement fight of his career.
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