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Eighteen-year-old superheavyweight boxer Joseph Parker has been invited to compete at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this month. Parker, who stands at 1.95m, recently pummelled Pan-American champion Cuban Yuniel Castro Chavez in the World Youth Boxing Championships with an outstanding score of 9-1 in the quarter-final; Parker also vanquished Turkey’s Yusuf Acik 7-2 in the preliminary round. Coach Grant Arkell said of the Papatoetoe- trained teenager’s success: “He’s been the only New Zealand boxer to ever beat a Cuban and he beat him 9-1 and he’s a good Cuban.” Parker is ranked in the top three in the world for his age. “He’s got speed to burn,” Arkell said.