For Lupesoliai Joseph Parker, Christmas will not be the same this year. He will leave his wife and children at home and travel to prepare for his world title match in a little over two months.

He is in Samoa for a five-day trip with his family before he flies out. He said leaving his family has been the biggest challenge.

"My wife and I have five children, so when I leave them my wife has all the children and looks after everything at home. The children, our home, cleaning, chores, and everything. So the hardest part is leaving the family and the children understand now," Lupesoliai told the Samoa Observer.

"When I leave they all get emotional and cry. But it is something I have to do. Everyone makes sacrifices in life, and mine is leaving my family to train and try to be the best boxer in the world," 

"I'm going away for training for 10 weeks. I have my boxing trainer, my nutritionists, strength and conditioning trainer, all come together to help me throughout the 10 weeks. Training is very hard. 

"When I wake up in the morning, have my breakfast, then spend two hours on my boxing training, then lunch, rest, and go back in training for an hour. Whether it is running, strength and conditioning, or HIIT training. It's different types of training every day, I train five to six days a week, two times a day."

Lupesoliai's next fight is on 22 February 2025 against the IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois in Saudi Arabia. 

According to Lupesoliai, his preparations are going well. He's been training since his last fight in March. He hopes to return to Samoa for a longer trip so he can attend local tournaments and help local boxers.

"Samoa always had good fighters or boxers. If they believe in themselves, whatever it is they should always push for whatever they want to do because if you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything," he said. 

"If after this fight, I get the world champion title, I will come back and do more work here in Samoa with our local fighters, because at the moment, my trip here is not long. 

"It's just a short trip, five days only. Next time I come, I want to stay longer. Everyone in the world, all the fighters their goal is to fight for the championship in the world, now I have a second chance to fight for the belt. 

"This is the second time, it'll be a very special moment if I win this fight. For now, I am doing it more for myself, my wife and children, and Samoa and New Zealand. I think I'm the first champion to come out of Samoa and New Zealand to fight for the world title the second time, so if I am successful it'll be a great achievement."

He acknowledged the support from Samoa and New Zealand during his every fight. He is always happy to come back home and hopes to achieve the championship title.

He said he would return to celebrate with Samoa.