Wardley Stops Parker, Becomes Usyk Mandatory

Fabio Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) locked himself into a world title fight with a dramatic finish on Saturday night, scoring an 11th-round TKO win at the 1:54 mark over Joseph Parker (36-4, 24 KOs) in front of a large crowd at the O2 Arena to unify the WBA and WBO interim heavyweight titles.

The power-punching Wardley was hurt late in the first round by Parker, but fought well after that. What turned out to be the turning point in the fight was in the tenth round, when Joseph hit Fabio with a barrage of punches.

Wardley weathered the storm and staggered Parker in the final seconds. Had the bell not sounded, Parker wouldn’t have survived the tenth. He looked helpless in the final seconds, getting hammered by the younger, more powerful 30-year-old Wardley.

Bleeding from the nose, Parker was forced to the ropes by Wardley in round 11, eating the hard punches from the British heavyweight. The referee, Howard Foster, seeing Parker’s situation, jumped in to wave it off. It was a good move on his part, as Parker looked like a beaten warrior, barely staying on his feet while resting on the ropes. He’d taken so many hard punches from Wardley that it was clear that he was on the brink of going down.

“This is my division now—Usyk, I’m coming!” said Wardley moments after the fight.

With the victory, Wardley becomes the WBO mandatory and locks himself in for a world title fight against undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in 2026. The payday Wardley will receive for that fight will be enormous, life-changing, and generational-type money.

“He earned it; back to the drawing board,” said the badly beaten Parker in defeat.

In hindsight, the extra weight that Parker had put on for this fight was a mistake. He came into the contest 262 1/2 pounds, and he looked slower than he’d been when he’d been lighter in the 240s. In the championship rounds tonight, Parker appeared tired and haggard-looking. The fast pace that Wardley brought to the fight also factored in.