JOSEPH PARKER opened up on his ‘brotherhood’ with Tyson Fury, but also keeps in touch with ex-opponent Anthony Joshua on Instagram.
Parker won the WBO heavyweight title in 2017 after beating Tyson’s cousin Hughie on points in Manchester.
Fury was ringside that night and later struck up a friendship with the New Zealander.
Parker, 29, was beaten for the first time in 2018 by Joshua, but it has not stopped the pair from checking in on each other.
He told talkSPORT: “When you share the ring with someone, there’s always gonna be respect.
“We communicate here and there through Instagram – just, ‘Hey, how’s it going, how’s camp and hope all is well.’
“But I have a closer relationship with Tyson Fury.
“He’s always shown me love from the beginning when I came on the scene and he’s always shown me a lot of respect up until now.
“So him and I talk a lot more than I do with AJ. I don’t know if you remember the years of Periscope on Twitter.
“It was like the live [stream], he’ll go live and we’d show our support and text him.
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“Ever since then we had a lot of respect for each other and we supported him.
“When I fought his cousin Hughie Fury we were able to meet each other and start a great friendship, a great brotherhood.”
Joshua, 31, and Fury, 32, are in talks for a historic undisputed title decider this year.
For the first time ever, all four WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles are set to be at stake.
And Parker has backed pal Fury to emerge with British bragging rights due to his unmatchable versatility to mix up his styles.
He said: “I feel like a little biased, I feel like I give the edge towards Fury just because of the relationship we have.
“But if I sort of step back and watch – if I wasn’t involved in boxing – I would still think Fury.
“Just the weapons that he shows coming forward and being able to fight on the back foot.
“But then again, you’ve got a great champion in Joshua.
“So it’s a good fight and I think everybody’s excited to see it. Hopefully it’s locked in soon.”
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