Anthony Joshua takes on Joseph Parker in their heavyweight unification bout

The two will go head to head in Cardiff's Principality stadium on Saturday night

Both have taken different journeys to get to the top of boxing's biggest division

Joshua had a turbulent adolescence in London while Parker grew up in Auckland

Parker was a 'chubby little boy' and was introduced to boxing by Dad, Dempsey

On Saturday night, in front of a crowd of nearly 80,000 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, boxing history will he made.

For the first time ever, two reigning world heavyweight champions collide on these shores as Anthony Joshua takes on New Zealand’s WBO champion Joseph Parker.

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Ahead of this war of the worlds, Sportsmail plots the two fighters’ journeys from different corners of the earth to the same small ring in the Welsh capital...

Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker took polarising routes to get to where they are now

Joseph Parker was only 18 when he found himself in a hotel in Baku - without funding, without a coach and without a clue where he was.

The promising fighter was more than 9,000 miles from his native Auckland and there, in theory, to represent his country at the 2010 World Youth Amateur Championships.

But after touching down in Azerbaijan, something, at some point, had gone badly awry.

The pair of undefeated fighters have both been on their own journey, united by a common goal

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'He was supposed to meet up with the Australian team when he got there but there was a mix-up and he got sent to a non-English speaking hotel with non-English speaking staff,' Parker's first coach Grant Arkell recalls.

'He rang me up and said: "I don't know where the hell I am but there's nobody here that speaks English and I can't find the Australians.'"

After a night spent making phone calls from New Zealand, Arkell eventually tracked down his Australian counterpart Mark Wilson, who took Parker 'under his wing'. And over the next week, Arkell coached Parker over the phone all the way to the semi-finals.

Parker was introduced to boxing by his father, Dempsey, at the tender age of 10 years old

Parker developed unde Arkell's tutelage at the Papatoetoe gym in New Zealand before he turned professional

Parker won silver medals at the Commonwealth Championships and the Youth Olympics in 2010, won Bronze at the 2010 Youth World Championships in Baku and picked up the gold medal in the Arafura Games in 2011

Parker was only 18 when he found himself without funding and without a coach at the 2010 World Youth Amateur Championships

He had guided the teenager ever since the 'little chubby boy' walked into his Papatoetoe gym at the age of 10. But by the time Parker was selected to fight in Baku, Arkell was more than just a cornerman.

With little state support available, the coach paid for his boxer to fly across the world. Parker's parents were forced to take out loans to fund other fighting trips to India and Singapore.

In Baku, the teenager repaid his coach's faith, becoming the first New Zealand boxer to beat a Cuban champion on the way to securing a bronze medal.

A year later, he returned to Azerbaijan for the World Amateur Championships. This time Parker lost to China's Zhang Zhilei in his second bout of the tournament. But elsewhere in the draw, another promising puncher was enjoying rather more success.

Grant Arkell coached Parker over the phone all the way to the semi-finals of that tournament

Arkell (R) became more than just a cornerman and helped fund fighting trips to Singapore

Anthony Joshua made it to the final in Baku, where he was edged out 22-21 by home fighter Magomedrasul Majidov.

It was a remarkable result for a fighter who had only taken up the sport three years earlier. Joshua was already 18 when he walked into Finchley ABC with cousin Ben lleyemi.

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'I remember sitting on the edge, watching all the boys train and thinking "pfft, I could do this, this looks easy",' he told Sportsmail last year.

Joshua (back, row, fourth from left) was a keen sportsman like Parker before taking up boxing

Joshua (R) was 18 years old when he first walked into Finchley ABC with cousin Ben lleyemi (L)

Joshua, like Parker, had always been a keen sportsman. While the New Zealander spent his childhood playing volleyball and rugby, AJ was a gifted runner who had also turned his hand to football, rugby – basically 'anything to get some time out of class'.

But he recalls: 'Boxing was the first time I was on my own. All the other sports, I was good enough to have a bad day but still get the result. With boxing, I wasn't good enough to have a bad day. So anytime I was an inch out, I would learn the hard way.'

The man tasked with nurturing his natural ability was Sean Murphy.

'A lot of people say "Oh I saw it straight away"... I never, ever, ever would have imagined he would get as far as he has,' he tells Sportsmail .

The 28-year-old reached the final of the World Amateur Championships in Azerbaijan in 2011

Joshua returned to see his first coach after picking up the IBF world heavyweight title

'He was tall and skinny and he was always laughing. I was always on his case, though, from the early days. If someone talked to him, he would always talk back. And I would say: "What are you doing? Get on with it!''

But once the 28-year-old learned the fundamentals of the sport — and the ethos of the gym — he began to make rapid progress, as one sparring partner found out in painful fashion.

'I had a really good Slovakian who had only lost a couple out of about 50-odd bouts and he was schooling Josh. But Josh never once said: "Oh, I don't want to spar tonight." He always wanted to spar because he was always learning,' Murphy remembers.

'That went on for about a year and then the Slovakian disappeared. And within six months, we went and sparred him at another gym... (this time) he lasted about 50 seconds and Josh had his face in a mess.'

Murphy said Joshua's success has 'given hope' to the youngsters who now box at the gym

The key to his early success, Murphy claims, was an insatiable appetite to improve. Rather than blindly following orders, AJ demanded to know the benefits of each exercise. But even the most learned students risk slipping through the net.

'He disappeared once for about a week and a half and I bumped into him in the street. He hadn't even been carded yet — you have to be carded if you want to box.

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'I bumped into him on Monday and said "where have you been? I'm getting the doctors in on Wednesday... if you're not there, you're not going to box.'"

Joshua obliged. 'I remember three of the coaches said: "What is he doing in the line?"... All three said he wasn't ready to box. I said: "I think there is something there, he will be all right.'"

Once Joshua, here posing with Floyd Mayweather Sr, learned the fundamentals and the ethos of the sport, he progressed rapidly

Murphy was proved right. AJ went on to enjoy an incredible rise up the amateur ranks, winning two ABA titles and earning selection for Great Britain. In 2010, the promising super heavyweight rejected a £50,000-offer to turn professional.

Medals, rather than money, was why Joshua was in the sport and he fulfilled that ambition in spectacular fashion at London 2012. But less than two years out from the games, AJ's past life of 'clubbing and girls' nearly cost him everything.

'I was in the office one day and I got a letter,' Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn recalls.

'It was telling me that a heavyweight boxer had got himself into trouble and had to go before the courts for an offence and could I give a character reference on this guy and also explain how, if he was to make it to the Olympics or win a gold medal, what sort of career could he have in terms of monetary value and everything.

Joshua, who won two ABA titles, rejected a £50,000-offer to turn professional back in 2010

Medals, not money, was why Joshua was in boxing and he fulfilled that ambition in 2012

Joshua has posted an Instagram picture of himself carrying out community service in 2011

'I looked at it and I thought: "I haven't even heard of him!" And it was Anthony Joshua. So I put the letter to one side – I couldn't give the character reference, I'd never met him and didn't know anything about him!'

AJ was arrested for possession of cannabis with intent to supply and, after pleading guilty, was suspended from the GB squad and sentenced to a 12-month community order and 100 hours' unpaid work.

But Joshua wasn't out of the fold for long. And soon Hearn couldn't help but take notice. On a visit to Sheffield to see Carl Froch, the promoter's head was turned by someone hitting the heavy bag as if 'something was getting taken off the hinges'.

'I turned to (trainer) Rob McCracken and said: "Who's that?" and he said: "That's Anthony Joshua" and I thought: "That's the guy they wrote to me about!'"

But Joshua's past life of 'clubbing and girls' nearly cost him everything with Eddie Hearn (R) recalling a time he received a letter about his arrest before he even knew who he was

By the time he crossed paths with Joshua in Baku, Parker had been in boxing for nearly 15 years.

The New Zealand fighter was introduced to the sport by his father Dempsey, who was named after great American heavyweight Jack and had moved to New Zealand from Samoa.

'Seeing what their parents went through — a hard upbringing, fighting for their food (and) living off bats, eels, shrimps — is something that helped shape me to be the person today,' the 26-year-old says.

'My dad had a vision back when I was a young boy and told me I would be champion of the world.'

Parker said seeing what his parents went through inspired him to become world champion

Dempsey held pads for Joseph and brother John in their garden before the siblings' skills were honed at Papatoetoe. Eventually.

'He was always a sharp, clever boy because you have to have a good brain to be a good boxer... he could do it if he wanted but some days he just couldn't be bothered,' Arkell recalls.

'Until we went to the Youth Olympics in 2010 he just ambled along. It didn't really click that he had the talent to be a boxer... that was seven years I'd spent with him and it was going in one ear and out the other!'

Arkell adds: 'He had his first fight in 2003 and then I got him a few other amateur fights and he would weigh in and then not turn up to fight.

Arkell said it took time for Parker to realise his talent but once he did he eventually flourished

ANTHONY JOSHUA Nationality: United Kingdom Age: 28 Height: 6ft 6ins (198cm) Reach: 82ins (208cm) Stance: Orthodox Heavyweight Titles: IBO, WBA, IBF Won: 20 Lost: 0 Drawn: 0 Wins by Knockouts: 20 Knockout Ratio: 100% Rounds: 65

JOSEPH PARKER Nationality: New Zealand Age: 26 Height: 6ft 4ins (193cm) Reach: 76ins (193cm) Stance: Orthodox Heavyweight Titles: WBO Won: 24 Lost: 0 Drawn: 0 Wins by Knockouts: 18 Knockout Ratio: 75% Rounds: 123

'I said to him: "Are you worried about fighting?" And he would say: "No, I just decided to go fishing". So we come into town to weigh in at the ABA and he'd disappear off fishing because they had a boat. He was more interested in that and I thought: "Oh he's just going to drift off."'

Ambling or not, Parker persisted and eventually flourished — often against much, much bigger men — thanks to his impressive hand speed.

'He used to keep his chin high and his hands low, he was very flat-footed – he did a lot of things wrong but because he was so fast, once he'd had four or five fights, he could see he had the speed over the others and because of that he didn't need to worry about his bad habits,' says Arkell.

'I used to yell at him: "Get your chin down, get your hands up!" But he didn't need to worry because he was always so much faster than the other kids. The talent was always there.'

Under the guidance of his long-time coach, Parker took bronze in Baku, silver at the Youth Olympics in Singapore the same year and a spot at the Commonwealth Games in India.

Arkell wanted him to go to the 2012 Olympics, too. But Parker never made it to London. Instead, it was AJ who would take gold on home soil – and enter the paid ranks a ready-made superstar.

Parker's hand speed was what allowed him to succeed, often against much, much bigger men

In a combined 44 professional fights, Joshua and Parker have found only victory.

But a perfect record is about the only common landmark on their respective journeys to this week's unification clash.

As in the unpaid ranks, Joshua's rise has been meteoric. On Saturday, he will enjoy his third stadium fight in only 11 months - a run that has attracted a combined crowd of more than 240,000. The heavyweight has become a mainstream star, transcending the sport like no other British fighter of his generation.

'He's done an incredible job,' says Hearn. 'Everything from the debut to this point, not one moment has gone wrong or no one has messed up. It's been absolutely faultless all the way.'

Parker's trainer wanted him to go to London 2012 but he never made it and Joshua won gold

Joshua signed with Matchroom and entered the paid ranks as a ready-made superstar

For Parker, the incline has been rather more steady. But after 'putting the foot to the floor' alongside David Higgins and Duco Events, the heavyweight overcame a paucity of sponsorship, sparring and stature to become the country's first ever heavyweight champion of the world.

'He was unknown so it was hard to get media coverage… we tried all the tricks in the book and pulled all sorts of stunts,' Higgins recalls.

'We had to hustle to get sponsorship, we fought often, invested, rolled the dice and took risks at every opportunity.'

David Higgins (pictured) helped Parker overcome a paucity of sponsorship to win a world title

Along the way, Team Parker have attracted controversy and scorn aplenty in the pursuit of financial backing.

'One sponsor said they wouldn't sponsor (one) event unless we put little people on the undercard,' he recalls.

'We got criticism but we needed the money so we paid some little people, found some that actually wanted to fight and put them on the undercard…. It certainly got some media coverage, we were accused of exploitation!'

He adds: 'At the beginning we couldn't buy media coverage... now if he sneezes, in New Zealand it's a story... from scratch we built Joe into a superstar, he couldn't be more famous.'

Seven years on from converging in Azerbaijan, Joshua and Parker meet again. Two men, born in different corners of the world, who have taken polarising routes to the top – united only by a common goal.

Once that first bell sounds in Cardiff, where they've come from will mean everything, and nothing. It's where they're going that counts now.

Seven years on from converging in Azerbaijan, Joshua and Parker meet again. Once that first bell sounds in Cardiff, where they've come from will mean everything, and nothing.

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Sky Sports Box Office will exclusively show the Anthony Joshua v Joseph Parker unification fight on 31 March. Available to buy now at www.sky.com/orderboxoffice.