Fabio Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) believes four-belt heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is a “man of his word” and will choose to defend his undisputed crown against him like he said he would when he stated he would face the winner of his fight against WBO interim champion Joseph Parker (36-4, 24 KOs).
Wardley did his part, stopping Parker in round 11 on Saturday night to become the new WBO mandatory challenger and interim champion at the O2 Arena in London. It was a grueling fight for Wardley in which he was hurt several times. But ultimately, he came through to stop Parker, 33, in the 11th round after he hit him with a series of unanswered punches.
Parker wasn’t happy about how referee Howard Foster pulled the plug on the fight in round 11 when he was shelled up, trying to ride out a storm of shots by Wardley. It was pretty clear that Fabio wasn’t going to get tired of throwing after hurting him. The referee Foster had no choice but to stop the fight or risk having to help scoop Parker after the canvas if Wardley had laid him out.
Man of His Word
“Could I have gotten him out of the second? Who knows?” said Fabio Wardley to iFL TV about Joseph Parker losing his mouthpiece in round two after being badly hurt. “I believe he’s a man of his word. He said in the build-up, ‘I’d be happy to take the winner.’ So, I’m the winner. Let’s take me on, baby,” said Wardley when asked if he believes undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk will fight him.”
Vacate or Validate
If Usyk refuses to fight Wardley, as he did Moses Itauma, he’d have to surrender his WBO title. He can do that, obviously, but who else is there for him to fight? Tyson Fury revealed this week that he’s going to stay retired because he doesn’t want to risk brain damage. A trilogy with Anthony Joshua would be fun, but Usyk already beat him twice. Joshua would have to be a glutton for punishment to want to fight Usyk again.
The old mouthpiece trick was a good one by Parker. He lost like an old vet just at the right moment when Wardley had him on the verge of being clinically knocked out, The time out bought Parker precious time that allowed him to survive round two.
Ipswich Calls Out the Champ
“I think Ipswich is big enough to look after Usyk. Come on, Usyk. Have a word. That’s not me,” said Wardley when asked if he’d prefer to fight Usyk rather than fight for the vacant WBO title. “I’m a man that’s earned everything in the ring.”
Usyk will likely go ahead and face Wardley next, as it’s a fight that will generate a lot of interest worldwide. There’s money to be made for Usyk, and it’s a winnable one if he can outbox him like Justis Huni did for long stretches last June.
“I’m not planning on having it handed to me and me sitting there being happy about it. I want to fight for it and win it like that,” said Wardley.
