Joseph Parker

I dropped Nascimento in the first round, but he came back, and I had to dig really deep because he was gaining the whole time. He ruptured my left ear drum with a right hand in the fifth round, which caused a few hearing problems, but I was able to overcome it.

In boxing, there are lot of things that happen where they try to slow down the process and try to get to the other team, trying to get into our heads.

It feels good that people believe in my ability, but you've just got to stay focused, keep your feet on the ground, and do the job and do the hard work in the gym.

Everyone doubted I could go 10 rounds because my fights have stopped early. But I knew I could because of the work I'd done in the gym.

The training camp is where you do all the hard work.

I'm getting more confident in what I can do in the ring, and that just comes with hard work and training.

Right next to my bedroom, Dad made a chin-up bar with a rowing machine and a treadmill. From there, as years went by, we were able to get a bit of funding, and Dad got all these people involved and built a gym at home.