'Lot of hype and glamour': Joseph Parker's promoter compares Anthony Joshua to the England national team

WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker's promoter David Higgins has taken a dig at Anthony Joshua by comparing him to the England national team.

Joshua most recently defended his WBA and IBF heavyweight titles against Carlos Takam in Cardiff on 28 October and is set for his next defence.

Having outlined his goals of becoming the first champion to hold all four heavyweight belts, "AJ" has targeted fights with Parker and Deontay Wilder in 2018, the latter of whom holds the WBC belt.

However, an agreement is yet to be reached with either of them as Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, was said to have made a very low offer for a title unification fight with Parker.

Parker's camp was ready to offer a 60-40 cut in favour of the Briton, but Higgins claims the 28-year-old, who Parker considers "robotic" as a fighter, wanted to receive the entire gate, pay-per-view and sponsorship money.

The New Zealander's promoter has since taken a jab at Joshua by comparing him to the England national team.

Higgins believes Joshua is overhyped, claiming that he will not deliver in the potential title unification fights much like the Three Lions underperformed when it mattered the most.

"There is a lot of hype and glamour," Higgins told the Daily Mail. "But we believe Joshua will fold at unification level like England fail to reach World Cup finals.

"People have been asking why we don't make a unification fight with Deontay Wilder. For us it's simple: Anthony Joshua is the softer of the two. So taking the softer of the two first makes sense," he added.

The duo then proceeded to have a bizarre press conference on Wednesday (22 November) where they showcased Joshua's "glass chin" by displaying clips of him getting dropped. "Parker has a granite chin, whereas Joshua possibly has a glass jaw," Higgins reportedly said comparing the fighters yet again.

The video is reportedly meant to shock fans, but the clips used are known ones from Joshua's previous wins over Wladimir Klitschko and Dillian Whyte.

"There we demonstrated the main chink in Joshua's armour," Higgins explained after displaying the video. "In contrast, Parker has never been dropped. Not as an amateur, in sparring or in his profession."

"He's beaten hard men like Carlos Takam, who never dropped him. Our message to Anthony Joshua — and it's a serious message — is we want the opportunity to test your chin so much that we'll let you keep 65 per cent of the profit, even though it's an intercontinental unification.

"You have no excuses. Show Parker some respect and make the fight," Higgins added.