Joseph Parker parting ways with Kevin Barry is the right call. It simply had to happen.

This is no slight at all against KB, a man who has trained and taken two local lads all the way to the pinnacle of pugilist endeavour. Fighting for the undisputed heavyweight title is as good as it gets in the world of boxing and Barry has been hugely responsible for getting both Tua & Parker to that place.

Just making it that far takes an enormous amount of effort, application, training, sparring, promotion, hype & hoopla. You've got to talk the walk as much as walk the talk with the pre and post-fight histrionics at least as important as the ringcraft itself. You have to deal with some of the dodgiest characters in world sport, all of them bringing their own baggage and BS in equal proportions, knowing that diplomacy and compromise are as vital as footwork and combinations.

So I for one am not going to throw Kevin Barry under the bus here, the man has done a superb job over many decades. But, in Joseph's case, this is the exact right time to make a change.

The frustration with watching Saturday night's stalemate vs Junior Fa was that it felt so much like we'd seen all this before. An inability to change the game plan mid-fight has handicapped Parker in all three 12-round losses vs Joshua, Whyte and Fa leaving Joseph with perhaps one last chance (vs Chisora) to claw back another title shot.

To not acknowledge those failings and do something constructive about them would be, at this stage  of his career, simply negligent. So this is a good move all round. Kevin departs having gotten him there while Joseph simply has to keep moving forward and box on. With every pun intended.