Ego and marketing mean boxers in the same weight division rarely have much to exchange other than challenges and insults.
But heavyweights Joseph Parker and Tyson Fury are firm friends, and when the New Zealander decided to part ways with long-time trainer and compatriot Kevin Barry, he gave the WBC champion a call.
The result was that Parker will have Limerick man Andy Lee, Fury's cousin and assistant trainer, in his corner against Dereck Chisora on Saturday in Manchester - a night when Katie Taylor is also in action.
"I just felt like it was time to freshen it up," said 29-year-old Parker, who held the WBO belt from 2016 to 2018 but wasn’t overly convincing in beating Junior Fa in February.
"The idea of training with Andy popped up after I gave Tyson a call.
"He suggested that I train with Andy, that he is one of the best trainers he had trained with.
"After three or four Zoom calls, five or six days later, I was on a plane to Ireland, for the first time, to meet Andy.
"We gelled from the beginning. He picked me up from the airport and we talked boxing all the way home. From there we got to the gym and started working.
"He’s a trainer and a teacher. He has a lot of knowledge of the boxing game, and a lot of experience, having been a fighter himself and WBO champion.
"He has added a few things, corrected a few things, and I feel like, with what he is teaching me, I can get the win.
"He saw a few things and is trying to complement what I have in my arsenal.
"Tyson asked how I liked the recommendation, I told him 'Perfect’."
Fury and Parker trained together for the first time in Morecambe recently, before the British boxer (32) left for a Las Vegas camp ahead of his expected unification bout with Anthony Joshua this summer.
"We first met when I was fighting his cousin Hughie in Manchester (in September 2017)," recalled Parker. He treats me like a younger brother and looks after me.
"This is the first camp I’ve been able to experience training with him. He has given me a little bit of advice here and there.
"He’s a machine. I thought my level of training was high but then I trained with him and Andy and saw how they did things and it’s a different story.
"It’s encouraging that I still have a long way to go and a lot of improving to do.
"I'm happy. I was excited about the whole idea of a new camp, new environment, new setup, new schedule.
"Now that I’m here I’m embracing it and making the most of every day. Training, learning, picking Andy’s brains on his fights, styles, just everything. I feel like I’m at the beginning of my career again, picking up new things."
