Wardley Must Finish Parker Fast Or Risk The Counter Fire

Chris Arreola says it’s important that Fabio Wardley “finish” WBO interim heavyweight champion Joseph Parker by jumping on him if he gets him in trouble this Saturday, October 25.

Finish or Be Finished

The former three-time heavyweight world title challenger Arreola states that Parker’s counter-punching abolity and “muscle memory” allows him to return fire to hurt Wardley (19-0-1, 8 KOs) if he doesn’t immediately go for the finish he’s stunned the New Zealander with one of his powerful shots.

Parker-Wardley are meet in the 12-round main event on DAZN PPV at the O2 Arena in London, England. Wardley will have his WBA interim heavyweight title on the line.

Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) is risking his WBO mandatory title shot against champion Oleksandr Usyk by taking this fight. Joseph is next in line as the mandatory. So, he’s showing a lot of courage by fighting Fabio, who is a huge puncher.

The former WBO champion Parker, 33, has won his last six fights after being knocked out by Joe Joyce in the 11th round on September 24, 2022. Many fans gave up on Parker after that loss, but he’s revamped his fighting style since then. He’s morphed into a defensive fighter, but he mixes in strategic power punching to win his fiights.

“Even if Wardley hurts him, how can he start to exchanging with him,” said analyst Max Kellerman to InsideRingShow about Saturday’s heavyweight battle between Fabio Wardley and Joseph Parker.

Wardley got outboxed throughout by his last opponent, Justis Huni, on June 7, 2025. Things were looking bleak going into the 10th round for Fabio. In that round, Wardley unleashed a big right hand that dropped the former amateur standout Huni flat on his back.

The contest was halted after Huni stumbled after getting back up. At the time of the stoppage, Wardley was training 89-82, 89-82 and another 88-83.

Wardley’s Window of Opportunity

“If he hurts him, he better finish him,” said  Chris Arreola about Wardley. “Parker does have that muscle memory where he could easily counter-punch, catch a punch and give it right back to him.

“Like I said, once Wardley drops him, he’d better jump on him, but he better do it smartly,” said Arreola.

Tom Galm has covered the global boxing scene since 2014, specializing in heavyweight analysis, business trends, and fighter psychology.