Wardley to fight Parker in London on 25 October

On October 25, at London’s O2 Arena, unbeaten British heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley takes on former world champion Joseph Parker.

Wardley, 30, has won 19 professional titles while serving as the interim WBA champion.

Parker, 33, holds the WBO interim belt and has won the entire title between 2016 and 2018.

The winner is anticipated to receive a chance to win the world title if both men are highly ranked by their respective sanctioning bodies.

Promoter Frank Warren praised Joe and Fabio for their efforts, saying that neither one of them wanted to wait around and defend their positions.

“I think this is a genuine even-money fight with a blend of styles that will be visually appealing and highly popular,” said the author.

We promised to keep up this heavyweight division, and we intend to keep all the contenders battling it out until the day’s end.

Wardley, who was born in Ipswich and scored from behind the scorecards in the summer, produced a one-punch stoppage of Justis Huni in the 10th round in June.

Wardley, a boxer who started out in the white-collar era, defeated Olympic medalist Frazer Clarke and domestic rival David Adeleye.

Parker, who lost to Joe Joyce in 2022, has won six straight fights in a dazzling vein of form.

These two endearing heavyweights are in strong positions, highly ranked, and willing to wait for opportunities. These are fighting men, but coasting is not in their DNA.

Parker is still the WBO’s only required challenger and absolutely deserves his world title shot. After footage of Usyk dancing at a public event was revealed, the WBO requested medical documentation from him. You have to wonder if Usyk is avoiding challenges, despite the fact that no one can accuse him of avoiding them.

To put it simply, Usyk currently holds all four of the major title titles. Parker ranks first behind WBO in terms of rankings. The WBA has some irks, with Kubrat Pulev holding the regular belt and Wardley as the interim champion.

Too much confusion and too many belts, in all. Wardley might have a chance to win a world title if Parker is promoted to full WBO champion sooner than expected.

Agit Kabayel, the interim champion of the WBC, is the only clear-cut winner, with veteran Derek Chisora, incredibly, sitting at number two.

Despite all the political strife, the division is still rumbling. We may not quite be the Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury, or Anthony Joshua boom, but the next wave may be here.

Moses Itauma appears to be leading that charge. Although he is officially ranked number one with the WBA and WBO, he actually sits behind Usyk as the full champion along with Pulev, Wardley, and Parker at the WBO due to the “secondary champions” in boxing.