Fabio Wardley has studied Joseph Parker’s career in depth in the lead-up to their ‘All or Nothing’ main event next Saturday, October 25, 2025, at the O2 Arena in London. The event starts at 2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. PT and 7:00 p.m. BST [London time].
Parker’s Road Back From Defeat
Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) notes that the former WBO heavyweight champion Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) came back from a rough patch he went through in his career from 2018 to 2022, in which he suffered three defeats against these fighters:
- Joe Joyce – September 2022
- Dillian Whyte – July 2018
- Anthony Joshua – March 2018
Fabio says Parker has shown “ambition” coming back in the last three years, beating three consecutive top-level fighters to get to their fight next Saturday. Parker’s victories came against Martin Bakole, Zhilei Zhang, and Deontay Wilder.
Fans Slam Weak Undercard Line-Up
The Parker-Wardley event will be broadcast live on DAZN PPV on October 25. It’s priced at $59.99 in the U.S and £24.99 in the UK. Many fans are complaining about the price, as they feel that the headliner is the only compelling fight on the card. This week, Parker and Wardley are going to have to promote like mad to get the fans to want to pay.
Undercard
- Lewis Edmondson vs. Ezra Taylor
- Juergen Uldedaj vs. Rolly Lambert
- Mitchell Smith vs. Arnie Dawson
- Royston Barney-Smith vs. Danny Quartermaine
See what I mean about the fans complaining about the undercard lacking for this event? What the card needed was a good co-feature and a decent one below that. Fans believe Queensberry dropped the ball with the undercard.
Wardley Breaks Down Parker’s Career
“I think he’s in his prime. Obviously, early on in his career, he was a great fighter. Not green in a sense, but still new to it. You were still finding your feet in certain aspects. A world champion, a fantastic achievement,” said Fabio Wardley to DAZN Boxing, talking about Joseph Parker’s early career when he held the WBO heavyweight title from 2016 to 2018.
The way Parker fought in his losses to Joshua and Whyte early on, he could have beaten both under different circumstances. The referee who worked the Joshua-Parker fight, Giuseppe Quartarone, made it difficult for Parker to get to Joshua. He was frequently keeping them separate, and it was weird. With a different referee who wasn’t keeping the two fighters apart, we’d have seen a different outcome.
Parker’s loss to Whyte was also a strange one. He dominated Dillian when he came on late, hurting him and dropping him in the 12th. Parker seemed to hold back until the final round. When he finally did go after Whyte, he was beating the stuffing out of him. If this version of Parker fought Joshua and Whyte, I could see him knocking out both quite easily. He’s so advanced now, and wouldn’t hold back or allow a referee to run interference to keep him off of AJ.
Fabio Sees a Different Parker Now
“To lose and then have a bit of middling point where you’re a big here, there. Then maybe fell a little bit out of love with the sport,” said Wardley, analyzing what Parker has gone through in his career. “Not really up for it. Not too keen. And then now, the upward trajectory of top-level opponent of top-level opponent. It goes to show his ambition. And how much he loves the sport, and loves what he’s doing, and achieve great things again,” said Wardley.
At 33, it’s now or never for Parker. He can’t afford to lose to Wardley like he did in his non-efforts against Joshua and Whyte in 2018. He’s got to put it on Wardley, attack, attack, and attack if he wants to get the life-changing money from a title shot against undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk in 2026.
Fabio’s analysis of Parker sounds more like a trained sports psychologist and less like a fighter. Listening to him talk, it’s hard to believe he’s a fighter—one of the most articulate fighters in the sport.
James_theGrad has covered boxing since 2013 with sharp ringside insight.