By Duncan Johnstone

Former world heavyweight champion David Haye has spelled out the dangers Joseph Parker faces against Carlos Takam in their IBF eliminator this weekend.

Parker and Takam fight in south Auckland on Saturday night with the winner getting the mandatory challenger's rights to take on the champion, currently Britain's Anthony Joshua.

Fellow Brit Haye is on the comeback trail, sensing fresh opportunities in a division that is opening up. He held a media conference in London on Thursday (NZ time) ahead of his fight this weekend where he takes on Kosovo's unbeaten Arnold Gjergjaj.

With Parker and Takam fighting on the same weekend, the questions turned to Hayes' thoughts on the match up in New Zealand and he made it clear Parker could be in for a difficult night if he doesn't make use of his height and reach advantages and fails to stick to his game plan.

Haye, who held the WBA heavyweight belt between 2009 and 2011, has used Takam in some of his previous camps and rates the Paris-based Cameroon fighter highly.

Carlos Takam wins by unanimous decision in his eight round bout in November against George Arias; his last fight before entering the ring with Kiwi boxer Joseph Parker.

"I've had him in sparring for about six weeks at one stage. Every day he gave a great account of himself. Very fit, very strong. He can take a shot as well ... big heart," Haye said of Takam.

"It's a very tough fight. Carlos Takam is a serious contender. He pushed Alexander Povetkin to the wire. He really did push him.

"Joseph Parker is going to have to use every ounce of experience he's got. He needs a solid game plan, he needs to utilise his arm length and his punching power and try to neutralise Carlos Takam"

Parker was noticeably taller than Takam when they fronted a media conference together in Auckland on Wednesday.

He will have a useful reach advantage that will be backed up by a relentless jab which is quickly gaining notoriety.

Takam's challenge will be to counter that and fight on the inside.

But he then risks bringing himself in the firing line of an uppercut Parker has been working on to go with his other armoury of knockout punches that have seen 16 of his 18 fights finish inside the distance.

Both fighters appear to be superbly conditioned, meaning the prospect of the fight going the full 12 rounds is a real possibility if Parker fails to unleash his deadly power and gets caught in a grind.