Tim Bradley reckons Parker will do him in four rounds
Chisora has said Wardley will do him
Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
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Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Chisora has said Wardley will do him
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Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Chisora is usually wrong.Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑20 Oct 2025, 11:04Tim Bradley reckons Parker will do him in four rounds
Chisora has said Wardley will do him
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Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Joseph Parker explains why he's rolling the dice against Fabio Wardley
Perhaps it is the fact that Joseph Parker is a fighting man through and through that has appealed to his friends in the traveller community.
Parker is pals with former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and trained by Andy Lee; both decorated boxers who, as with Parker, liked to fight.
Parker has been running a gauntlet unlike many other heavyweights in recent times. You could contend that Daniel Dubois and Agit Kabayel have had similar runs, but Parker’s 13-month burst of victories over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole carried him back up toward the top of the heavyweight pile.
But because he is a fighting man, the WBO’s interim beltholder on Saturday – rather than rest and wait in his guaranteed title shot position – boxes the WBA’s interim titlist Fabio Wardley, with both hoping victory will lead them to a fight against undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk.
They meet at London’s O2 Arena on a Queensberry Promotions show. Wardley is 19-0-1 (18 KOs), and was losing every round against Justis Huni before he unleashed his equaliser right hand in the 10th round to turn the fight on its head and leave Huni flat on his back in June.
But Parker had no intention of allowing rust to gather while waiting on Usyk.
“Maybe, yeah,” he said whether he felt he could have sat in his position and bided his time. “But it could be like waiting for a shot and then coming to the point where they [Team Usyk] have to make a decision and I still don’t get the shot. I just wanted to fight. I was training back in New Zealand with George Lockhart since March, April. We thought we were going to fight in July, August, September, now October. So to get a fight locked in, I’m just happy that we had a goal and a target to aim towards.”
New Zealand’s Parker is 36-3 (24 KOs) and he saw Wardley lay waste to Huni with one shot.
“It was a good fight,” Parker assessed. “Wardley did have moments in the fight but ultimately it was Justis that was controlling the fight from the beginning and then just got caught off that big right hand that he walked into. And that’s what makes boxing exciting because one punch, they always say one punch can change everything and that was a perfect example of one punch can change everything.”
Wardley recalled watching Parker defend his WBO heavyweight title against Anthony Joshua in 2018 while sat in a pub with friends. Parker had won the vacant title against Andy Ruiz in 2016.
Wardley, back then, was boxing in white-collar (he’d had just one such fight when Parker won the world title), but Parker acknowledges that now as a 33-year-old contender he is far removed from the fighter he was then, too.
“Yeah, the one [Parker] that I look back at now, 2016 against Ruiz and 2018 against Joshua, totally different fighter, different mindset, different preparation,” he said.
“I actually enjoy it now and love what I do whereas before I just did it because I thought I had to do it. So I think when you have the passion for the sport and you love it, it makes you train that much harder and put in that much more work to stay more focused and disciplined.”
Of course, the more traditional entry route into a high-level pro career – rather than white-collar boxing – is a decorated spell as an amateur, but regardless of Wardley’s interesting journey, Parker has full respect for his opponent.
“[It’s] very admirable, the way that he started off as a white-collar fighter and then what he’s done to progress to this position he’s in now, right? And also knockout percentage, [Wardley’s is] probably one of the highest, 18 knockouts [more than 95 per cent]. So he does possess power but the journey to get to where he is now has been admirable and impressive. Starting off, I’m fighting Andy Ruiz and he’s just had one white-collar background fight. So I think if you look at it as a whole, it’s just a great story.”
Wardley is coached by Ben Davison, who works with other leading heavyweights including Moses Itauma and Anthony Joshua. He’s coached Fury, too, and his job has been to refine Wardley’s ways while adding to his skillset.
Parker admits it is hard to tell to the untrained eye that Wardley’s start was comparatively unconventional.
“Only if you’re a real [boxing] person who’s been involved in boxing for a long time. It’s not until someone really says it that you can tell,” Parked explained. “But in the fights, they’ve said that he’s stepped it up a level each and every fight. In the previous fights or the recent ones, he’s always found a way to win. But for someone who hasn’t had that amateur background, it’s impressive what he’s done. Because everyone always goes from amateur and then into the professional scene and they do real well, whereas he’s had none of that.”
Parker admits he “was looking at Usyk” as his preferred next option.
Of course, there was the now standard – and always entertaining – Parker call-out video, offering the formidable Ukrainian a fight, but Parker also scoured the rankings and the schedule to see who was available.
“I went down the list and just said to [promoter] Frank [Warren] – [and] thanks to Frank for locking this fight, Spencer [Brown] and David [Higgins] – just whoever’s available, lock it in. “We need a fight.”
Parker’s run of form is not coincidental. His last four opponents have a combined record of 113-5-2, but after losing to Joe Joyce in one of the best fights of 2022, he knew change was needed.
“I’m leaving my family in New Zealand and going training in England,” he said to himself. “And I’m like, ‘Why am I not getting any better?’ ‘Why am I not progressing?’ So then you ask all these questions and then you make changes. And one change leads to the next… leads to the next. So then I got [nutritionist] George Lockhart for one of the fights that I had in Australia. And that’s been the biggest change. It’s the nutrition aspect, the strength and conditioning, the rest. I feel like in the past I’ve overtrained my body to the point where I’m tired in fights. I think I’ve been doing all this good work, then I get to the fight, I’m so tired after three or four rounds. Whereas now I’ve got the best balance and training and everything, you know, and leading into a fight. Even though the run that I’ve had has been great, we’re not really looking at the run. What we do is, I’m back in New Zealand with George and we just keep building away, keep building. I didn’t think you could do more than what we’re doing now and I didn’t think you could get any better, but what we’re doing in New Zealand, I just feel like we’re building this base and when it peaks it’s going to be amazing. Even I’m looking forward to seeing what I’m going to do, because I don’t know. I’ve been building away for the last five months.”
Parker believes his career could have looked different had he lined up with Lockhart and Lee earlier in his career, and maybe his losses to Joshua and Dillian Whyte would not have occurred, but he also knows the experiences he has been through have allowed his growth and development.
“I think you have to go through hard times in order to appreciate the great times,” he explained. “Once you have this, I’ve got George now, I’ve got Andy, I never want to lose it. I never want to take it for granted and I want to put in way more work and be way more disciplined. I always had the tenacity, I always had the drive, I never wanted to give up. I never wanted to fold in a fight. But when you’re not doing the right training, or when the training is not right, or when the food is not right, there’s no preparation for leading into a fight. But as a fighter, you think you’re ready no matter what you do.”
Lee’s busy and star-studded gym includes welterweight Paddy Donovan, super middleweight Hamzah Sheeraz and light heavyweight Ben Whittaker. Parker says it’s a quiet gym but one that’s loaded with energy, with Lee steering the ship.
And the affable New Zealander is happy to have his friend at the wheel, and he’s also grateful for Lockhart’s work. Before, Parker said he “had no structure to his diet”, but he has full faith in his team.
“I don’t even ask, I just say, ‘Just give me what I need to eat and we’ll go.”
It is not solely that Parker is a fighting man that is of appeal, but it is his willingness to take on all-comers that has earned him the right to say he is the fighter most deserving of a shot at the great Usyk. And it’s a fight that, with Lee and Lockhart behind him, he would be confident of winning.
Perhaps it is the fact that Joseph Parker is a fighting man through and through that has appealed to his friends in the traveller community.
Parker is pals with former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and trained by Andy Lee; both decorated boxers who, as with Parker, liked to fight.
Parker has been running a gauntlet unlike many other heavyweights in recent times. You could contend that Daniel Dubois and Agit Kabayel have had similar runs, but Parker’s 13-month burst of victories over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole carried him back up toward the top of the heavyweight pile.
But because he is a fighting man, the WBO’s interim beltholder on Saturday – rather than rest and wait in his guaranteed title shot position – boxes the WBA’s interim titlist Fabio Wardley, with both hoping victory will lead them to a fight against undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk.
They meet at London’s O2 Arena on a Queensberry Promotions show. Wardley is 19-0-1 (18 KOs), and was losing every round against Justis Huni before he unleashed his equaliser right hand in the 10th round to turn the fight on its head and leave Huni flat on his back in June.
But Parker had no intention of allowing rust to gather while waiting on Usyk.
“Maybe, yeah,” he said whether he felt he could have sat in his position and bided his time. “But it could be like waiting for a shot and then coming to the point where they [Team Usyk] have to make a decision and I still don’t get the shot. I just wanted to fight. I was training back in New Zealand with George Lockhart since March, April. We thought we were going to fight in July, August, September, now October. So to get a fight locked in, I’m just happy that we had a goal and a target to aim towards.”
New Zealand’s Parker is 36-3 (24 KOs) and he saw Wardley lay waste to Huni with one shot.
“It was a good fight,” Parker assessed. “Wardley did have moments in the fight but ultimately it was Justis that was controlling the fight from the beginning and then just got caught off that big right hand that he walked into. And that’s what makes boxing exciting because one punch, they always say one punch can change everything and that was a perfect example of one punch can change everything.”
Wardley recalled watching Parker defend his WBO heavyweight title against Anthony Joshua in 2018 while sat in a pub with friends. Parker had won the vacant title against Andy Ruiz in 2016.
Wardley, back then, was boxing in white-collar (he’d had just one such fight when Parker won the world title), but Parker acknowledges that now as a 33-year-old contender he is far removed from the fighter he was then, too.
“Yeah, the one [Parker] that I look back at now, 2016 against Ruiz and 2018 against Joshua, totally different fighter, different mindset, different preparation,” he said.
“I actually enjoy it now and love what I do whereas before I just did it because I thought I had to do it. So I think when you have the passion for the sport and you love it, it makes you train that much harder and put in that much more work to stay more focused and disciplined.”
Of course, the more traditional entry route into a high-level pro career – rather than white-collar boxing – is a decorated spell as an amateur, but regardless of Wardley’s interesting journey, Parker has full respect for his opponent.
“[It’s] very admirable, the way that he started off as a white-collar fighter and then what he’s done to progress to this position he’s in now, right? And also knockout percentage, [Wardley’s is] probably one of the highest, 18 knockouts [more than 95 per cent]. So he does possess power but the journey to get to where he is now has been admirable and impressive. Starting off, I’m fighting Andy Ruiz and he’s just had one white-collar background fight. So I think if you look at it as a whole, it’s just a great story.”
Wardley is coached by Ben Davison, who works with other leading heavyweights including Moses Itauma and Anthony Joshua. He’s coached Fury, too, and his job has been to refine Wardley’s ways while adding to his skillset.
Parker admits it is hard to tell to the untrained eye that Wardley’s start was comparatively unconventional.
“Only if you’re a real [boxing] person who’s been involved in boxing for a long time. It’s not until someone really says it that you can tell,” Parked explained. “But in the fights, they’ve said that he’s stepped it up a level each and every fight. In the previous fights or the recent ones, he’s always found a way to win. But for someone who hasn’t had that amateur background, it’s impressive what he’s done. Because everyone always goes from amateur and then into the professional scene and they do real well, whereas he’s had none of that.”
Parker admits he “was looking at Usyk” as his preferred next option.
Of course, there was the now standard – and always entertaining – Parker call-out video, offering the formidable Ukrainian a fight, but Parker also scoured the rankings and the schedule to see who was available.
“I went down the list and just said to [promoter] Frank [Warren] – [and] thanks to Frank for locking this fight, Spencer [Brown] and David [Higgins] – just whoever’s available, lock it in. “We need a fight.”
Parker’s run of form is not coincidental. His last four opponents have a combined record of 113-5-2, but after losing to Joe Joyce in one of the best fights of 2022, he knew change was needed.
“I’m leaving my family in New Zealand and going training in England,” he said to himself. “And I’m like, ‘Why am I not getting any better?’ ‘Why am I not progressing?’ So then you ask all these questions and then you make changes. And one change leads to the next… leads to the next. So then I got [nutritionist] George Lockhart for one of the fights that I had in Australia. And that’s been the biggest change. It’s the nutrition aspect, the strength and conditioning, the rest. I feel like in the past I’ve overtrained my body to the point where I’m tired in fights. I think I’ve been doing all this good work, then I get to the fight, I’m so tired after three or four rounds. Whereas now I’ve got the best balance and training and everything, you know, and leading into a fight. Even though the run that I’ve had has been great, we’re not really looking at the run. What we do is, I’m back in New Zealand with George and we just keep building away, keep building. I didn’t think you could do more than what we’re doing now and I didn’t think you could get any better, but what we’re doing in New Zealand, I just feel like we’re building this base and when it peaks it’s going to be amazing. Even I’m looking forward to seeing what I’m going to do, because I don’t know. I’ve been building away for the last five months.”
Parker believes his career could have looked different had he lined up with Lockhart and Lee earlier in his career, and maybe his losses to Joshua and Dillian Whyte would not have occurred, but he also knows the experiences he has been through have allowed his growth and development.
“I think you have to go through hard times in order to appreciate the great times,” he explained. “Once you have this, I’ve got George now, I’ve got Andy, I never want to lose it. I never want to take it for granted and I want to put in way more work and be way more disciplined. I always had the tenacity, I always had the drive, I never wanted to give up. I never wanted to fold in a fight. But when you’re not doing the right training, or when the training is not right, or when the food is not right, there’s no preparation for leading into a fight. But as a fighter, you think you’re ready no matter what you do.”
Lee’s busy and star-studded gym includes welterweight Paddy Donovan, super middleweight Hamzah Sheeraz and light heavyweight Ben Whittaker. Parker says it’s a quiet gym but one that’s loaded with energy, with Lee steering the ship.
And the affable New Zealander is happy to have his friend at the wheel, and he’s also grateful for Lockhart’s work. Before, Parker said he “had no structure to his diet”, but he has full faith in his team.
“I don’t even ask, I just say, ‘Just give me what I need to eat and we’ll go.”
It is not solely that Parker is a fighting man that is of appeal, but it is his willingness to take on all-comers that has earned him the right to say he is the fighter most deserving of a shot at the great Usyk. And it’s a fight that, with Lee and Lockhart behind him, he would be confident of winning.
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Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Fabio Wardley's heavyweight fight with Joseph Parker on 25 October will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Radio commentary on the undercard will begin at 20:30 BST on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, before the coverage switches to BBC Radio 5 Live from 22:00 for the main event.
There will also be live text commentary on all the build-up which will start at 20:00 on the BBC Sport website and app.
Radio commentary on the undercard will begin at 20:30 BST on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, before the coverage switches to BBC Radio 5 Live from 22:00 for the main event.
There will also be live text commentary on all the build-up which will start at 20:00 on the BBC Sport website and app.
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Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Why Joseph Parker-Fabio Wardley is the ultimate risk vs. reward fight
In the aftermath of Oleksandr Usyk's win over Daniel Dubois in July there was the predictable scramble from people to get inside the ring.
Officials, dignitaries, promoters and even -- perhaps unsurprisingly -- Jake Paul, squeezed through the ropes to be the centre of attention.
But of everyone among the crush and the chaos, one had a better reason than most to go face-to-face with the newly re-crowned undisputed heavyweight champion.
Joseph Parker.
"Me next," he said, respectfully, to the Ukrainian, who offered little response.
The official order came from the WBO a few days later: Usyk was to fight their interim champion.
It is widely agreed if anyone has earned their way to fight Usyk, that is, actually winning in the ring, it is Parker. But in reality, the fight was always unlikely. Usyk was injured and requested extra time to recover, leaving Parker frustrated and in limbo.
The New Zealander is on what is widely considered one of, if not the best winning runs in boxing right now and wants to make hay while the sun shines. Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole have all come up against Parker and failed, the latter by a Round 2 knockout in February.
The success reignited Parker's hopes of becoming a two-time heavyweight champion. But with Usyk out, Parker was getting antsy.
Others would have waited; trash talking on social media, having the boxing equivalent of a temper tantrum.
That's not Parker's style.
He is at his best when he is active and got tired of waiting. The result is a clash with the big hitting, unbeaten Fabio Wardley in London on Saturday. A win will put Parker even more in pole position for a fight with Usyk, but he won't be able to relax for a second against Wardley, who KO'd Justis Huni in July when he was down on the cards and heading for defeat.
"I think getting the win definitely puts you more so in that position," Parker told ESPN. "But whether you're going to get it or not, it's another story altogether. The best approach for this fight is to go out there and enjoy myself.
"And when you enjoy yourself, everything flows nicely, it flows better, and you can get the work and the job done."
Parker also makes the point that while governing bodies can order fights and promoters give the big sell; there is one man who calls the shots at heavyweight.
"All these promoters can say 'you know what, whoever wins this fight is next and whoever does this is next,' but they actually have no control," Parker says from experience. "Usyk the one that actually shows that he has control."
And, by if he were to beat Wardley, Parker knows Usyk could have no other option if he wants a fight in the first part of 2026, with Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury likely unrealistic options until later in the year.
But it's a big risk.
Not only because it's a dangerous fight, but Parker is walking the last-chance saloon tightrope if he wants to be a two-time world champion. Fortunately for Parker, he has recent experience against big punchers; the aforementioned fighters who rely more on their power than their boxing ability.
But when you're this close to a title, it's not how good you look or how slick you are. You just need to win. Wardley knows that more than most.
Heading for defeat after being largely outboxed by Huni, the Englishman unleashed a big right hand in Round 10. The Australian didn't get up, suffering the same fate as Frazer Clarke, who lasted less than a round in his rematch with Wardley in October 2024.
Wardley's punch left a visible imprint in the side of his Clarke's head.
"I don't profess to be any kind of Usyk ... someone with all the skills. But one thing I do know how to do is win," Wardley said after the Huni fight.
Maybe, but he is yet to share the ring with anyone on the level of Parker.
It makes for an intriguing clash.
It's one that will either cost Parker a shot at Usyk, or leave the Ukrainian little choice but to fight him.
In the aftermath of Oleksandr Usyk's win over Daniel Dubois in July there was the predictable scramble from people to get inside the ring.
Officials, dignitaries, promoters and even -- perhaps unsurprisingly -- Jake Paul, squeezed through the ropes to be the centre of attention.
But of everyone among the crush and the chaos, one had a better reason than most to go face-to-face with the newly re-crowned undisputed heavyweight champion.
Joseph Parker.
"Me next," he said, respectfully, to the Ukrainian, who offered little response.
The official order came from the WBO a few days later: Usyk was to fight their interim champion.
It is widely agreed if anyone has earned their way to fight Usyk, that is, actually winning in the ring, it is Parker. But in reality, the fight was always unlikely. Usyk was injured and requested extra time to recover, leaving Parker frustrated and in limbo.
The New Zealander is on what is widely considered one of, if not the best winning runs in boxing right now and wants to make hay while the sun shines. Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole have all come up against Parker and failed, the latter by a Round 2 knockout in February.
The success reignited Parker's hopes of becoming a two-time heavyweight champion. But with Usyk out, Parker was getting antsy.
Others would have waited; trash talking on social media, having the boxing equivalent of a temper tantrum.
That's not Parker's style.
He is at his best when he is active and got tired of waiting. The result is a clash with the big hitting, unbeaten Fabio Wardley in London on Saturday. A win will put Parker even more in pole position for a fight with Usyk, but he won't be able to relax for a second against Wardley, who KO'd Justis Huni in July when he was down on the cards and heading for defeat.
"I think getting the win definitely puts you more so in that position," Parker told ESPN. "But whether you're going to get it or not, it's another story altogether. The best approach for this fight is to go out there and enjoy myself.
"And when you enjoy yourself, everything flows nicely, it flows better, and you can get the work and the job done."
Parker also makes the point that while governing bodies can order fights and promoters give the big sell; there is one man who calls the shots at heavyweight.
"All these promoters can say 'you know what, whoever wins this fight is next and whoever does this is next,' but they actually have no control," Parker says from experience. "Usyk the one that actually shows that he has control."
And, by if he were to beat Wardley, Parker knows Usyk could have no other option if he wants a fight in the first part of 2026, with Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury likely unrealistic options until later in the year.
But it's a big risk.
Not only because it's a dangerous fight, but Parker is walking the last-chance saloon tightrope if he wants to be a two-time world champion. Fortunately for Parker, he has recent experience against big punchers; the aforementioned fighters who rely more on their power than their boxing ability.
But when you're this close to a title, it's not how good you look or how slick you are. You just need to win. Wardley knows that more than most.
Heading for defeat after being largely outboxed by Huni, the Englishman unleashed a big right hand in Round 10. The Australian didn't get up, suffering the same fate as Frazer Clarke, who lasted less than a round in his rematch with Wardley in October 2024.
Wardley's punch left a visible imprint in the side of his Clarke's head.
"I don't profess to be any kind of Usyk ... someone with all the skills. But one thing I do know how to do is win," Wardley said after the Huni fight.
Maybe, but he is yet to share the ring with anyone on the level of Parker.
It makes for an intriguing clash.
It's one that will either cost Parker a shot at Usyk, or leave the Ukrainian little choice but to fight him.
-
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Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Joseph Parker Returns To O2 Arena ‘A Totally Different Fighter’ Than 7 Years Ago
As the summer of 2017 drew to a close, the ambition for WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker was clear: take this show on the road to the UK.
He was 23 fights and 23 wins into his professional career and had the world title he won via decision against Andy Ruiz Jr. in December 2016 to show for it.
Aside from a pair of low-key six-rounders in America and one outing in Germany, all of Parker’s fights at that point had taken place Down Under. He had done everything right, but there was a feeling he needed to break some new ground if he ever wanted to really make an impression on the heavyweight picture.
Despite the absence of former unified world champion Tyson Fury, who was dealing with well-publicised battles with alcohol and drugs, British heavyweight boxing was in a good place at the time. Anthony Joshua held the IBF and WBA titles, while the likes of Derek Chisora and Dillian Whyte were also players on the world scene.
“Introducing myself to that part of the world was absolutely the strategy at that point,” Parker told The Ring. “Obviously getting fights was the first objective, but of course I had to get the wins, too.
“It was around that time when people started to know who I was in terms of this fighter from New Zealand and Samoa trying to make a stamp in the boxing world.”
The UK invasion began in September 2017, in what was the second defence of his WBO belt. Tyson’s fighting cousin, Hughie, was the opponent at Manchester Arena and Parker emerged with a majority-decision win. Although the result was deemed controversial by some, especially Fury’s team, two of the three judges had Parker winning 118-110.
Regardless of the fight, which was not necessarily a heavyweight classic, the door was now open for Parker to secure a unification clash with Joshua. The stage was set for Principality Stadium in Cardiff, where the two undefeated world champions would meet with three belts on the line in March 2018.
Although Parker became the first man to go the distance with Joshua that night, he was on the end of a wide unanimous-decision defeat and, after a 14-month reign, he was left with no belt.
Even so, the strategy had worked. Parker had become a commodity in the UK and within four months of his defeat to Joshua, he secured a showdown with Whyte at London’s O2 Arena. He was knocked down in the second and eighth round and lost via unanimous decision for the second fight in a row.
On Saturday night, for the first time since that night in July 2018, Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) returns to the venue as one of the division’s most established names. He has yet to regain a version of the heavyweight title, but if he beats Fabio Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs), his next fight is likely to be against undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk.
“I can’t believe it has been seven years since my last fight there,” Parker added. “In fact, Dillian Whyte was my only fight there so far. I’m looking forward to going back there and also the crowd, getting whatever reception I’m going to get. There will be a lot of cheers for him, but I feel like I’m going to have some of the crowd cheering for me too.”
So how has life changed since his last fight beneath the dome?
“Well, I’ve had five more kids,” he says with a smile. “In terms of my training, my coaching team, how I operate, how I prepare, family life, everything is different. I feel like I am now the best version of myself.
“The one I look back at from against Joshua and then Whyte, I’m a totally different fighter with a different mindset and different preparation.”
In those days, Parker would train in Henderson, Nevada under Kevin Barry. He would leave his young family back in New Zealand and live out of a spare room at the Barry family home a short drive away from the Las Vegas strip. These days, he does his work in Dublin under Andy Lee, but his wife and children now also make the trip for training camp.
“I actually enjoy it now,” Parker says. “I love what I do. Before I just did it because I thought I had to and I think when you have passion for the sport and you love it, it makes you train that much harder, put in more work and stay more focused and disciplined.”
The fruits of such labour have been a six-fight winning run, the last three of which have been against feared punchers Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole. He neutralised all three of those for the most part, but in Wardley he faces a man with an even higher knockout percentage given that he has ended 94.74 percent of his wins inside the distance.
Even so, with another slashy, backhand-happy puncher in his way, Parker has been able to apply many of the methods already honed during previous camps.
“If you look at Wilder,” Parker says. “He took his time and I think he took too much time and just let me set the pace of the fight. Then if you look at Zhang, he tired out, but if he had a bit more fitness and a bit more energy it could have been a different fight. Then with Bakole, he was a last-minute stand-in.
“I think with Wardley, he is a lot fresher. He’s young and fresh and we’ve seen he can carry power throughout the whole fight, like he did against Justis Huni. So, the preparation is still the same, but I’m going to be even fitter than I was in my last fight. I won’t be as heavy and I’m going to be a lot more agile.”
They say you can never step in the same river twice and the entire boxing landscape has changed since his last trip to the arena on the banks of the Thames. For him, although he suffered back-to-back defeats seven years ago, he still believes it was a case of mission accomplished.
“I feel like over the last seven years we have achieved what we set out to do back then,” Parker concluded. “We continue to have more fights in the UK, a few here and there in America, and some in Saudi Arabia, too. We were able to establish ourselves a bit more on this side of the world.
“We have a good following and a good support crew and every time we come back to England, there’s a lot of support on a lot of the days. It’s quite crazy thinking about it, that I’m from New Zealand, a small place in Samoa, but I’ve got good support here in England, in Ireland and on this side of the world. It’s an amazing feeling that we made it happen.”
As the summer of 2017 drew to a close, the ambition for WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker was clear: take this show on the road to the UK.
He was 23 fights and 23 wins into his professional career and had the world title he won via decision against Andy Ruiz Jr. in December 2016 to show for it.
Aside from a pair of low-key six-rounders in America and one outing in Germany, all of Parker’s fights at that point had taken place Down Under. He had done everything right, but there was a feeling he needed to break some new ground if he ever wanted to really make an impression on the heavyweight picture.
Despite the absence of former unified world champion Tyson Fury, who was dealing with well-publicised battles with alcohol and drugs, British heavyweight boxing was in a good place at the time. Anthony Joshua held the IBF and WBA titles, while the likes of Derek Chisora and Dillian Whyte were also players on the world scene.
“Introducing myself to that part of the world was absolutely the strategy at that point,” Parker told The Ring. “Obviously getting fights was the first objective, but of course I had to get the wins, too.
“It was around that time when people started to know who I was in terms of this fighter from New Zealand and Samoa trying to make a stamp in the boxing world.”
The UK invasion began in September 2017, in what was the second defence of his WBO belt. Tyson’s fighting cousin, Hughie, was the opponent at Manchester Arena and Parker emerged with a majority-decision win. Although the result was deemed controversial by some, especially Fury’s team, two of the three judges had Parker winning 118-110.
Regardless of the fight, which was not necessarily a heavyweight classic, the door was now open for Parker to secure a unification clash with Joshua. The stage was set for Principality Stadium in Cardiff, where the two undefeated world champions would meet with three belts on the line in March 2018.
Although Parker became the first man to go the distance with Joshua that night, he was on the end of a wide unanimous-decision defeat and, after a 14-month reign, he was left with no belt.
Even so, the strategy had worked. Parker had become a commodity in the UK and within four months of his defeat to Joshua, he secured a showdown with Whyte at London’s O2 Arena. He was knocked down in the second and eighth round and lost via unanimous decision for the second fight in a row.
On Saturday night, for the first time since that night in July 2018, Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) returns to the venue as one of the division’s most established names. He has yet to regain a version of the heavyweight title, but if he beats Fabio Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs), his next fight is likely to be against undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk.
“I can’t believe it has been seven years since my last fight there,” Parker added. “In fact, Dillian Whyte was my only fight there so far. I’m looking forward to going back there and also the crowd, getting whatever reception I’m going to get. There will be a lot of cheers for him, but I feel like I’m going to have some of the crowd cheering for me too.”
So how has life changed since his last fight beneath the dome?
“Well, I’ve had five more kids,” he says with a smile. “In terms of my training, my coaching team, how I operate, how I prepare, family life, everything is different. I feel like I am now the best version of myself.
“The one I look back at from against Joshua and then Whyte, I’m a totally different fighter with a different mindset and different preparation.”
In those days, Parker would train in Henderson, Nevada under Kevin Barry. He would leave his young family back in New Zealand and live out of a spare room at the Barry family home a short drive away from the Las Vegas strip. These days, he does his work in Dublin under Andy Lee, but his wife and children now also make the trip for training camp.
“I actually enjoy it now,” Parker says. “I love what I do. Before I just did it because I thought I had to and I think when you have passion for the sport and you love it, it makes you train that much harder, put in more work and stay more focused and disciplined.”
The fruits of such labour have been a six-fight winning run, the last three of which have been against feared punchers Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole. He neutralised all three of those for the most part, but in Wardley he faces a man with an even higher knockout percentage given that he has ended 94.74 percent of his wins inside the distance.
Even so, with another slashy, backhand-happy puncher in his way, Parker has been able to apply many of the methods already honed during previous camps.
“If you look at Wilder,” Parker says. “He took his time and I think he took too much time and just let me set the pace of the fight. Then if you look at Zhang, he tired out, but if he had a bit more fitness and a bit more energy it could have been a different fight. Then with Bakole, he was a last-minute stand-in.
“I think with Wardley, he is a lot fresher. He’s young and fresh and we’ve seen he can carry power throughout the whole fight, like he did against Justis Huni. So, the preparation is still the same, but I’m going to be even fitter than I was in my last fight. I won’t be as heavy and I’m going to be a lot more agile.”
They say you can never step in the same river twice and the entire boxing landscape has changed since his last trip to the arena on the banks of the Thames. For him, although he suffered back-to-back defeats seven years ago, he still believes it was a case of mission accomplished.
“I feel like over the last seven years we have achieved what we set out to do back then,” Parker concluded. “We continue to have more fights in the UK, a few here and there in America, and some in Saudi Arabia, too. We were able to establish ourselves a bit more on this side of the world.
“We have a good following and a good support crew and every time we come back to England, there’s a lot of support on a lot of the days. It’s quite crazy thinking about it, that I’m from New Zealand, a small place in Samoa, but I’ve got good support here in England, in Ireland and on this side of the world. It’s an amazing feeling that we made it happen.”
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Ruthless-RKO
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Ruthless-RKO
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Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
It’s one battle after another for Joseph Parker and Andy Lee
The last time Andy Lee was preparing Joseph Parker for battle it was February and the opponent was Daniel Dubois. Since then, eight months have passed and a lot has happened.
For one, Parker never got to share a ring with Dubois on account of Dubois suffering a fight-week illness. Instead, that February, Parker fought and stopped Martin Bakole, the replacement flown in at 48 hours’ notice for a king’s ransom.
After that, Parker’s coach, Andy Lee, turned his attention to Paddy Donovan, his welterweight, whose all-Irish clash with Lewis Crocker in March ended in disappointment when Donovan was disqualified for a late punch in round eight.
With no time to stew on it, from there Lee hooked up with Ben Whittaker, the light-heavyweight prospect, and guided him to an impressive second-round stoppage of Liam Cameron in April. That was then followed by Lee guiding another of his newest recruits, Hamzah Sheeraz, to an equally impressive fifth-round stoppage of Edgar Berlanga in July.
Come September, Lee was back with Donovan and Donovan was back with Crocker. This time they fought at Belfast’s Windsor Park, with the IBF welterweight title at stake, yet the emotions after the second fight were no different than the first: disappointment, frustration, regret. Though spared the controversy of fight one, Donovan was no less upset when learning that two of the three ringside judges felt he had narrowly lost.
That wound, still fresh, has yet to produce a scab, much less heal. However, time continues and so does life. It’s October now.
Now, eight months after leading Joseph Parker into battle against Martin Bakole, Lee is getting ready to walk Parker into another battle on Saturday at London’s O2 Arena. The opponent on this occasion is Fabio Wardley, the unbeaten heavyweight from Ipswich, but everything else remains pretty much the same as before.
“I wouldn’t say I’m excited by the fight,” said Lee. “I don’t get excited by any of the fights – that’s the wrong word. It’s one battle after another. That’s how I look at it. My drive and hunger is the same for every fight: to win and improve the fighters.”
When not in the gym trying to improve fighters, Lee, 41, is either performing the duties of a husband and father or winding down by watching movies. His referencing Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” to explain his current state of mind is therefore no accident or coincidence. In fact, there is, for Lee, a loose correlation between the two – life as a coach, that particular film. If, for example, the film explores the notion that nothing changes in battle and that every battle fought, regardless of its outcome, ultimately endures, that is something Lee can understand. He also understands the repetitive, circuitous nature of a battle and how everything we do in the past often impacts our future.
Even in the gym, Lee, a former WBO middleweight champion, will spend his days teaching young fighters many of the same lessons he was once taught by coaches in his past. All he can do is then hope that they listen, as he did, and show a willingness to be steered down the right path. All he can do, as their coach, is attempt to relate.
He knows, in the case of Parker, how it feels to be a thirtysomething fighter trying to find the same motivation they had prior to achieving certain goals. “I think so,” Lee said when asked if Parker, a former WBO heavyweight champion, remains motivated at the age of 33. “He is showing me that in the gym at least. I just think he has secured himself financially now and been a world champion, so every win now… it’s not like a bonus, but it’s about legacy – for him, his family, and his children. That’s what I think it is for Joseph now. But he still has the desire to become a two-time world champion, I think. That’s his goal. This is another step towards that.”
The next step for Parker brings him into contact with Fabio Wardley – and potentially Wardley’s right hand. It is a fight plenty in Parker’s position would perhaps look to avoid, given both Wardley’s threat and the fact Parker, 36-3 (24 KOs), appears on the brink of challenging Oleksandr Usyk for the world heavyweight title. However, Parker, cut from a different cloth, believes it does no good to sit around and wait. He, like his coach, wants only to be busy.
“It’s a risky fight and a dangerous fight because Wardley is a big puncher, as we all know,” said Lee. “He’s a very game fighter. He comes to fight. So it should be a good heavyweight clash.
“Joe has got the experience and has fought at a higher level. But when you’re in with a puncher all of that can go out of the window. It’s like a Second Division club playing a Premier League club in the FA Cup – on that one day they could beat them if they’re not on the ball.”
Much has been made of Wardley’s unique start to life in boxing. Being a late bloomer is one thing, and he was, but Wardley also came from a white-collar background and eschewed the traditional amateur grounding so many other professionals receive before turning over. This resulted in a unique origin story, as well as a unique style heavyweights have so far found difficult to decode. Rules are broken and legends wince whenever Wardley moves or throws a punch, but that hardly matters when the result of his rule-breaking ends in victory – often decisive. Not only that, Wardley possesses, in the form of his punch power and grit, two things that cannot be taught regardless of how long one spends in a vest and headguard.
“He's very unusual, in terms of his background and where he has come from,” said Lee of Wardley, 19-0-1 (18 KOs). “He’s actually beaten some very good boxers before: Nathan Gorman, Frazer Clarke, David Adeleye, and Justis Huni. Those are credible names. A lot of these guys have had long and good schooling and yet he has beaten them. It’s not always been because he is more powerful, either. Sometimes there has been more to it than that.”
Lee added: “Joe has been in with genuinely big punchers: [Zhilei] Zhang, and [Deontay] Wilder, Bakole even. He has been able to neutralize each of them and go on to win. That’s what I mean when I talk about his experience. But he still has to be wary of what Wardley can do. We’re taking him very seriously.”
Everything is serious for Parker and Lee these days. The fights are serious, the gym sessions are serious, and things could get even more serious in the future. For instance, as the WBO’s number one-ranked heavyweight, there could soon be numerous heavyweight titles on the line and Oleksandr Usyk, the world’s best heavyweight, standing in the opposite corner.
“For me, the best heavyweights in the world right now are Usyk, who you have to have as number one, and then Joseph at number two,” said Lee. “Forget all the hype, all the records, and who beat who where and when, if you watch what these guys actually do in the ring, it’s Usyk and Joseph at the top.”
Which is why, Lee would argue, it makes perfect sense for them to fight next. In fact, some would even suggest that they should have fought this year and that Parker had every right to be disappointed when Usyk requested an extension from the WBO regarding his obligation to fight his mandatory challenger from New Zealand.
“It’s been frustrating for him,” revealed Lee, “but I think [Parker’s] just relieved he’s fighting. He fought in March of 2024 [against Zhang], and then he fought in February [against Bakole], and that was only two rounds. He’s just relieved and happy to be fighting again this year. He just wants to do his job.”
On Saturday, that’s what they will all be doing. Parker will be doing his job, Lee will be doing his job, and Wardley and his team will be doing their jobs, too. Each will be confident in their ability to carry out these jobs primarily because for all of them the job in question is something they know inside out. They have, in other words, been here before. They have fought many battles and know exactly what a battle looks like and how one feels.
“I expect it to be a bit of a firefight really,” said Lee. “If Wardley lands, he kind of goes gung-ho and tries to get you out of there. Joe has to be prepared for that. I think Joe will box and win most of the rounds, but I also think it will catch fire – probably pretty early on.”
The last time Andy Lee was preparing Joseph Parker for battle it was February and the opponent was Daniel Dubois. Since then, eight months have passed and a lot has happened.
For one, Parker never got to share a ring with Dubois on account of Dubois suffering a fight-week illness. Instead, that February, Parker fought and stopped Martin Bakole, the replacement flown in at 48 hours’ notice for a king’s ransom.
After that, Parker’s coach, Andy Lee, turned his attention to Paddy Donovan, his welterweight, whose all-Irish clash with Lewis Crocker in March ended in disappointment when Donovan was disqualified for a late punch in round eight.
With no time to stew on it, from there Lee hooked up with Ben Whittaker, the light-heavyweight prospect, and guided him to an impressive second-round stoppage of Liam Cameron in April. That was then followed by Lee guiding another of his newest recruits, Hamzah Sheeraz, to an equally impressive fifth-round stoppage of Edgar Berlanga in July.
Come September, Lee was back with Donovan and Donovan was back with Crocker. This time they fought at Belfast’s Windsor Park, with the IBF welterweight title at stake, yet the emotions after the second fight were no different than the first: disappointment, frustration, regret. Though spared the controversy of fight one, Donovan was no less upset when learning that two of the three ringside judges felt he had narrowly lost.
That wound, still fresh, has yet to produce a scab, much less heal. However, time continues and so does life. It’s October now.
Now, eight months after leading Joseph Parker into battle against Martin Bakole, Lee is getting ready to walk Parker into another battle on Saturday at London’s O2 Arena. The opponent on this occasion is Fabio Wardley, the unbeaten heavyweight from Ipswich, but everything else remains pretty much the same as before.
“I wouldn’t say I’m excited by the fight,” said Lee. “I don’t get excited by any of the fights – that’s the wrong word. It’s one battle after another. That’s how I look at it. My drive and hunger is the same for every fight: to win and improve the fighters.”
When not in the gym trying to improve fighters, Lee, 41, is either performing the duties of a husband and father or winding down by watching movies. His referencing Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” to explain his current state of mind is therefore no accident or coincidence. In fact, there is, for Lee, a loose correlation between the two – life as a coach, that particular film. If, for example, the film explores the notion that nothing changes in battle and that every battle fought, regardless of its outcome, ultimately endures, that is something Lee can understand. He also understands the repetitive, circuitous nature of a battle and how everything we do in the past often impacts our future.
Even in the gym, Lee, a former WBO middleweight champion, will spend his days teaching young fighters many of the same lessons he was once taught by coaches in his past. All he can do is then hope that they listen, as he did, and show a willingness to be steered down the right path. All he can do, as their coach, is attempt to relate.
He knows, in the case of Parker, how it feels to be a thirtysomething fighter trying to find the same motivation they had prior to achieving certain goals. “I think so,” Lee said when asked if Parker, a former WBO heavyweight champion, remains motivated at the age of 33. “He is showing me that in the gym at least. I just think he has secured himself financially now and been a world champion, so every win now… it’s not like a bonus, but it’s about legacy – for him, his family, and his children. That’s what I think it is for Joseph now. But he still has the desire to become a two-time world champion, I think. That’s his goal. This is another step towards that.”
The next step for Parker brings him into contact with Fabio Wardley – and potentially Wardley’s right hand. It is a fight plenty in Parker’s position would perhaps look to avoid, given both Wardley’s threat and the fact Parker, 36-3 (24 KOs), appears on the brink of challenging Oleksandr Usyk for the world heavyweight title. However, Parker, cut from a different cloth, believes it does no good to sit around and wait. He, like his coach, wants only to be busy.
“It’s a risky fight and a dangerous fight because Wardley is a big puncher, as we all know,” said Lee. “He’s a very game fighter. He comes to fight. So it should be a good heavyweight clash.
“Joe has got the experience and has fought at a higher level. But when you’re in with a puncher all of that can go out of the window. It’s like a Second Division club playing a Premier League club in the FA Cup – on that one day they could beat them if they’re not on the ball.”
Much has been made of Wardley’s unique start to life in boxing. Being a late bloomer is one thing, and he was, but Wardley also came from a white-collar background and eschewed the traditional amateur grounding so many other professionals receive before turning over. This resulted in a unique origin story, as well as a unique style heavyweights have so far found difficult to decode. Rules are broken and legends wince whenever Wardley moves or throws a punch, but that hardly matters when the result of his rule-breaking ends in victory – often decisive. Not only that, Wardley possesses, in the form of his punch power and grit, two things that cannot be taught regardless of how long one spends in a vest and headguard.
“He's very unusual, in terms of his background and where he has come from,” said Lee of Wardley, 19-0-1 (18 KOs). “He’s actually beaten some very good boxers before: Nathan Gorman, Frazer Clarke, David Adeleye, and Justis Huni. Those are credible names. A lot of these guys have had long and good schooling and yet he has beaten them. It’s not always been because he is more powerful, either. Sometimes there has been more to it than that.”
Lee added: “Joe has been in with genuinely big punchers: [Zhilei] Zhang, and [Deontay] Wilder, Bakole even. He has been able to neutralize each of them and go on to win. That’s what I mean when I talk about his experience. But he still has to be wary of what Wardley can do. We’re taking him very seriously.”
Everything is serious for Parker and Lee these days. The fights are serious, the gym sessions are serious, and things could get even more serious in the future. For instance, as the WBO’s number one-ranked heavyweight, there could soon be numerous heavyweight titles on the line and Oleksandr Usyk, the world’s best heavyweight, standing in the opposite corner.
“For me, the best heavyweights in the world right now are Usyk, who you have to have as number one, and then Joseph at number two,” said Lee. “Forget all the hype, all the records, and who beat who where and when, if you watch what these guys actually do in the ring, it’s Usyk and Joseph at the top.”
Which is why, Lee would argue, it makes perfect sense for them to fight next. In fact, some would even suggest that they should have fought this year and that Parker had every right to be disappointed when Usyk requested an extension from the WBO regarding his obligation to fight his mandatory challenger from New Zealand.
“It’s been frustrating for him,” revealed Lee, “but I think [Parker’s] just relieved he’s fighting. He fought in March of 2024 [against Zhang], and then he fought in February [against Bakole], and that was only two rounds. He’s just relieved and happy to be fighting again this year. He just wants to do his job.”
On Saturday, that’s what they will all be doing. Parker will be doing his job, Lee will be doing his job, and Wardley and his team will be doing their jobs, too. Each will be confident in their ability to carry out these jobs primarily because for all of them the job in question is something they know inside out. They have, in other words, been here before. They have fought many battles and know exactly what a battle looks like and how one feels.
“I expect it to be a bit of a firefight really,” said Lee. “If Wardley lands, he kind of goes gung-ho and tries to get you out of there. Joe has to be prepared for that. I think Joe will box and win most of the rounds, but I also think it will catch fire – probably pretty early on.”
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Here is the flipside to Parker answering hurtie tweets, it's Fabs answering hurtie tweets.
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CaptainSpacerod
- Welterweight
- Posts: 3302
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Ruthless-RKO
- Welterweight
- Posts: 100682
- Joined: 24 Apr 2016, 11:59
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Yeh! Now get ya money out!
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MightyWarrior
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 13248
- Joined: 23 Jan 2003, 14:01
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Interesting Frank is trying a new business model here: take two heavyweights and put them into a virtual witness protection program, ensuring no one actually knows who they are or that they fighting on Saturday night.
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
It's a world level eliminator-eliminator.
Two eliminators eliminate each other while eliminating £25 of your British squids.
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Bigdogsnose
- Middleweight
- Posts: 1436
- Joined: 02 Dec 2013, 08:36
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Any chance Parkers recent run is a little flattering. Wilder shot. Bakole as fat as butter. Zhang win was very goox at time but already in danger of not aging well, beat again since and his best wins were joyce who has looked really bad.
Probs just clutching at straws, still think he beats wardley on savvy, workrate and activity.
Probs just clutching at straws, still think he beats wardley on savvy, workrate and activity.
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Ruthless-RKO
- Welterweight
- Posts: 100682
- Joined: 24 Apr 2016, 11:59
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
But before the fights, many believed Wilder would knock him out, or that Zhang would be difficult (which he was) and that Bakole had a chance, even though, he then came in a lump.Bigdogsnose wrote: ↑23 Oct 2025, 03:03 Any chance Parkers recent run is a little flattering. Wilder shot. Bakole as fat as butter. Zhang win was very goox at time but already in danger of not aging well, beat again since and his best wins were joyce who has looked really bad.
Probs just clutching at straws, still think he beats wardley on savvy, workrate and activity.
It's always easy to look back and then see, oh, what has Wilder done since, what has Zhang done since? both lost. You can only beat what's in front of you at the time.
On here, look at polls..
Bakole had a lot of votes to KO Parker
Majority had Zhang beating Parker, most by KO.
61 Boxrec'rs had Wilder beating Parker, compared to the 22 who favoured Parker.
Seem's like many always bet against Parker. You can always pick at any boxers resume..
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Ruthless-RKO
- Welterweight
- Posts: 100682
- Joined: 24 Apr 2016, 11:59
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Joseph Parker Will KO Fabio Wardley In 4-5 Rounds, Says Tim Bradley
Fabio Wardley has been on an incredible run, but it’s all about to come to an end.
That's according to Hall of Famer Tim Bradley, who, despite Wardley's recent form, doesn't believe the Ipswich man stands much of a chance against Joseph Parker this weekend.
The surging heavyweight contender, fresh off back-to-back KO wins over Frazer Clarke and Justis Huni, finds himself in the biggest fight of his life Saturday. He and Parker will clash in the main event spot at O2 Arena in London (DAZN).
“It took me one round to break down Wardley and Joseph Parker,” said Bradley on his YouTube channel. “Wardley is about to get knocked out. This fight is going to go four or five rounds at the most, if that, because Joseph Parker is going to knock him out with a right hand [or] it might be a single punch followed up by combinations."
In September 2022, Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) appeared to have reached his ceiling. He was coming off an 11th-round stoppage defeat to Joe Joyce and his future looked uncertain.
He's now riding a six-fight win streak. And, those victories haven’t come against no-names, either.
He parlayed a lopsided points win over former champion Deontay Wilder in 2023 into a big-time opportunity against Zhilei Zhang a year later. Parker picked himself up off the canvas twice to win a majority decision.
In his latest outing Feb. 22 in Saudi Arabia, the 33-year-old made it look easy against late replacement opponent Martin Bakole.
Bradley appreciates what Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) has done to get his name in the mix with the heavyweight division’s top dogs. But he has pinpointed one particular skill issue he believes will lead to the Englishman's downfall.
"Wardley leans back," the former two-weight world champion said. "So, he puts most of his weight on his back foot, which means he can explode coming forward, which is great. But when offense is coming his way, he’s stuck in the mud.”
Fabio Wardley has been on an incredible run, but it’s all about to come to an end.
That's according to Hall of Famer Tim Bradley, who, despite Wardley's recent form, doesn't believe the Ipswich man stands much of a chance against Joseph Parker this weekend.
The surging heavyweight contender, fresh off back-to-back KO wins over Frazer Clarke and Justis Huni, finds himself in the biggest fight of his life Saturday. He and Parker will clash in the main event spot at O2 Arena in London (DAZN).
“It took me one round to break down Wardley and Joseph Parker,” said Bradley on his YouTube channel. “Wardley is about to get knocked out. This fight is going to go four or five rounds at the most, if that, because Joseph Parker is going to knock him out with a right hand [or] it might be a single punch followed up by combinations."
In September 2022, Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) appeared to have reached his ceiling. He was coming off an 11th-round stoppage defeat to Joe Joyce and his future looked uncertain.
He's now riding a six-fight win streak. And, those victories haven’t come against no-names, either.
He parlayed a lopsided points win over former champion Deontay Wilder in 2023 into a big-time opportunity against Zhilei Zhang a year later. Parker picked himself up off the canvas twice to win a majority decision.
In his latest outing Feb. 22 in Saudi Arabia, the 33-year-old made it look easy against late replacement opponent Martin Bakole.
Bradley appreciates what Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) has done to get his name in the mix with the heavyweight division’s top dogs. But he has pinpointed one particular skill issue he believes will lead to the Englishman's downfall.
"Wardley leans back," the former two-weight world champion said. "So, he puts most of his weight on his back foot, which means he can explode coming forward, which is great. But when offense is coming his way, he’s stuck in the mud.”
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MightyWarrior
- Heavyweight
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- Joined: 23 Jan 2003, 14:01
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Hearing Fabio talk about the Frazer Clarke fights, you’re struck by how crazy fighters can be if they’re not looked after. Big Fraze talks about lying on his hotel bed after the first fight, wondering if he was going to die. And yet the man goes straight back in with the same boxer, only to get smashed unconscious on the ropes, with a broken jaw. Just insane. Sometimes these fighters are just not paid enough.
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
I dont see how you cant like Wardley, always want to see him do well but I reckon Parker knows too much for him
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jameswilson
- Heavyweight
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- Joined: 08 Jan 2004, 18:01
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
I’m gonna say it that I think this is the worst PPV I’ve seen since I started watching boxing in 2000.
Cleverly v Bellew had a much better undercard and in fact I think had pretty good fights right the way down the card, I might be wrong but think there was a very exciting British title fight that opened that card. Quigg v Frampton was another PPV that had the main event and then a really poor undercard seemingly as the fighters teams wanted to keep the cost of the undercard right down but with that fight we all were really eagerly awaiting it, the buzz around it was far higher than this fight despite this being the trendier heavyweights.
Given that there’s an argument for Itauma v Whyte being the next worst I hope we aren’t going to see the standard of PPV undercards and main events dropping like an anchor to the sea bed.
Cleverly v Bellew had a much better undercard and in fact I think had pretty good fights right the way down the card, I might be wrong but think there was a very exciting British title fight that opened that card. Quigg v Frampton was another PPV that had the main event and then a really poor undercard seemingly as the fighters teams wanted to keep the cost of the undercard right down but with that fight we all were really eagerly awaiting it, the buzz around it was far higher than this fight despite this being the trendier heavyweights.
Given that there’s an argument for Itauma v Whyte being the next worst I hope we aren’t going to see the standard of PPV undercards and main events dropping like an anchor to the sea bed.
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Ruthless-RKO
- Welterweight
- Posts: 100682
- Joined: 24 Apr 2016, 11:59
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Brook-Gavin was ppv, but card was decent.jameswilson wrote: ↑23 Oct 2025, 08:12 I’m gonna say it that I think this is the worst PPV I’ve seen since I started watching boxing in 2000.
Cleverly v Bellew had a much better undercard and in fact I think had pretty good fights right the way down the card, I might be wrong but think there was a very exciting British title fight that opened that card. Quigg v Frampton was another PPV that had the main event and then a really poor undercard seemingly as the fighters teams wanted to keep the cost of the undercard right down but with that fight we all were really eagerly awaiting it, the buzz around it was far higher than this fight despite this being the trendier heavyweights.
Given that there’s an argument for Itauma v Whyte being the next worst I hope we aren’t going to see the standard of PPV undercards and main events dropping like an anchor to the sea bed.
See on paper, this card is not ppv worthy, so I do hope that the fights deliver.
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CaptainSpacerod
- Welterweight
- Posts: 3302
- Joined: 15 Dec 2015, 03:21
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
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keithmoonhangover
- Cruiserweight
- Posts: 16749
- Joined: 16 Sep 2010, 10:42
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
He's a very likeable guy, but Wardley's going to catch a beating on Saturday.
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jameswilson
- Heavyweight
- Posts: 13360
- Joined: 08 Jan 2004, 18:01
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Parker has struggled against a few people in the past and obviously lost but if you are easy to hit then it plays such a big advantage into his hands. He looked god awful against Hughie because Hughie was ‘elusive.’ Joshua was obviously at his peak back when they fought and Joyce while easy to hit was able to overwhelm Parker. I can’t see Wardley doing what Joyce did and also can’t see him outboxing him. I think it’s a rough night and Fabio may well end up taking one of those beatings where we don’t see him the same again.keithmoonhangover wrote: ↑23 Oct 2025, 11:13 He's a very likeable guy, but Wardley's going to catch a beating on Saturday.
Re: Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley | DAZN - 25 October 2025
Even without the BBC fight I can't see this selling on PPV, would have been a perfect DAZN main event but never a PPV. I'll be watching the Brentford v Liverpool game and save my cash , wouldn't be surprised if a lot did including pubs