Samoan boxer Lupesoliai Joseph Parker is in Samoa and will be celebrating his birthday here. He wants the world to know that his journey back in the ring is not just for show as he aims to reclaim his belt before he retires.

Lupesoliai was spotted in Apia on Monday with his family. Fans were coming up to him for photos. He told this newspaper in an interview that his goal before he retires is to reclaim his titles.

"I'm 32 tomorrow (Tuesday) and I have another maximum of two to three years then that's it but I want to get the belt again," he said.

After his one-week trip to the homeland, Lupesoliai will only spend three days back in New Zealand before the start of his camp in Ireland in preparation for his next fight which is yet to be confirmed.

"We haven't confirmed who my next opponent will be yet but that's what we're working on at the moment," he explained.

Asked who is on the top list, Lupesoliai said 'anyone'.

"I wanted AJ but we found out that he is preparing to fight Francis Ngannou, but there's also Zhilei Zhang, Filip Hrgovic, Agit Kabayel, and many others and I think as long as they're in the top 10, they'll be fine.

"I fought here in 2016 but at the moment, most of the fights I'm having are all overseas because of the market, but hopefully one day, when I'm doing well in boxing, I can bring another fight to Samoa.

"They said to me hopefully I can confirm a match in March hopefully on the same card as Joshua and last year in 2023 when I had four fights, this year, I want to have three to four fights to keep busy."

Being proud of his Samoan chiefly title, Lupesoliai said one of the things he pursued in his career was trying to get the pronunciation of his chiefly title correct by the announcers. 

"I said to all the announcers is that's how you pronounce my name even though they did not say it correctly and he sort of mocked it up a bit but they're trying to do it on the world stage but I feel happy that they're acknowledging my full name and I feel proud to represent Samoa," he said.

Meanwhile, the Samoan boxer is enjoying the holiday in Samoa with his family and visiting his families around the islands, especially his grandparents.

"I'm here for one week and after my fight, I came for a holiday and to see my granddad, my other grandma, and many other families, and it's a good time to relax," he said.

"We're staying at Taumesina, kids are swimming every day except for Sunday when they should be in church. It's also nice to relax before the next camp.

"Very thankful to be back in Samoa, the support has been amazing, everyone showing love everywhere we go and I'm going to continue coming back because I love it here."