Coronavirus: Bare-knuckle boxer Mickey Parker praises 'fantastic' Portsmouth following as British title fight is postponed

And the Leigh Park fighter said the backing he's received from his followers has given him a welcome 'kickstart' as he prepares to head into training camp once again.

Parker was set to meet Dave Thomas for the right to be crowned British cruiserweight champion on April 4 on the BKB 21 show at 02 Indigo.

However, with the country in the midst of a virtual lockdown, the show has now rescheduled provisionally for May 23.

It comes as a blow to Parker, who had completed 10 weeks of his 12-week training camp in preparation for the fight.

He had also sold in excess of 200 tickets as his followers hoped to see him win a British title for the first time.

But Parker was overwhelmed when not a single one of his supporters asked for a refund.

‘The last thing I would want to do is put my supporters in any danger up there,' he said.

‘I wholeheartedly agree with the decision BKB have made.

‘The fight isn’t cancelled, the fight is postponed.

‘Out of more than 200 tickets I’d sold for the event, not one asked for a refund after I gave them that option.

‘That says a lot about Portsmouth for me.

‘Everyone is having a hard time at the moment and not one person said they wanted the money back.

‘All tickets are still valid for the day.

‘For not one person to ask for a refund, I’m over the moon.

‘It just shows the support that we have.

‘Things like that are going to give me the kick to get back training next week.

‘You do really need a bit of that in these uncertain times.

‘You’ve got to have a will, why you’re doing something in life.

‘Why I’m doing this is not only for my family, but the people of Portsmouth have stuck with me through thick and thin.’

The current government guidelines on the Covid-19 outbreak mean Parker will not have access to a gym when he restarts training next week.

It remains unclear as to how long he could be training alone before leisure facilities reopen in this country.

But Parker has no qualms about starting his training camp in preparation for his British title fight without his coach by his side.

‘I’ve access to bags etc,’ revealed Parker.

‘To be honest, my trainers and that have got kids. It’s going to be a bit of alone time but hopefully in the next month things might be lifted.

‘I certainly won’t be putting any of my coaches in danger with it.

‘That would just be me being selfish.

‘We’re going to have to go Rocky-style, when he was out in the snow for the fourth movie.

‘That’s the way I’m going to have to play it this time.

‘I’ll do a lot on my own and just go for it.’