Joseph Parker camp reject Tyson Fury sparring offer ahead of Anthony Joshua bout

Joseph Parker will not be sparring with "great friend" Tyson Fury ahead of his much-anticipated world unification bout with Anthony Joshua, his trainer Kevin Barry has confirmed.

Fury, who is currently trying to get back in shape with new trainer Ben Davison ahead of a proposed spring return, apparently offered to be part of Parker's training regime as he bids to become the first fighter to unify the heavyweight division since Lennox Lewis back in 1999, but the Pacific Islander's camp rejected The Gypsy King's advances.

Sparring sessions with an opponent of Fury's standing and quality could have stood Parker in good stead ahead of his bout with Joshua at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 31 March.

But Barry, who contradicted the 26-year-old's "glass jaw" jibes towards Joshua by insisting that 'AJ' has a "very good chin", does not see how a few rounds with the 29-year-old would benefit Parker in his quest to snatch Joshua's IBF, WBA and IBO title belts.

"Tyson put his hand up to help us in the last two weeks once we arrived," Barry told Sky Sports. "Really, two weeks out, we don't need to be getting in there with a 6ft 9in Tyson Fury!

"But Tyson's a great friend of our team and we appreciate all the support he gives us, but that just doesn't work out for us."

Fury will not be a part of Parker's training schedule in the weeks leading up to fight in the Welsh capital but the South Auckland-born fighter is pleased with the way his preparation is going ahead of his meet with Joshua, whose training techniques were recently called into question by the WBO heavyweight champion.

"Training has gone really good," Parker said. "Everything is on track. We've got a good structure and a good plan.

"Going into camp, everything is all good, everyone is happy. Just got to put in the work and prepare for March 31."