Wardley Vows KO After Piecing Together Parker’s DNA

Fabio Wardley says he’s fought enough heavyweights to “piece together” the knowledge to prepare for what Joseph Parker brings to their fight skill-wise this Saturday, October 25th.

Wardley’s Learning Curve

Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) states that he’s not going to be unprepared for what WBO interim champion Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) brings to the table in their main event at the O2 Arena in London.

Joseph Parker is a -400 betting favorite against Fabio Wardley, who is the +300 underdog. The oddsmakers are basing their prediction on Parker’s experience against higher-quality opposition, such as Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Martin Bakole, and Zhilei Zhang.

Parker’s victories over the last three of those names came late in their careers, with them being shells of their former selves. That makes his experience advantage less important going into Saturday’s fight. You have to go by the eye test of how Joseph and Wardley have looked in their recent fights.

Aggression Is in His DNA

“It’s good. Have a go, but I don’t think he’s going to come through with it,” said Fabio Wardley to Secondsout, reacting to Joseph Parker predicting that he’s going to “smash” him on Saturday night. “We’re both going to come out aggressive. We’re both going to stamp our mark on the fight, and neither one of us is going to want to let it get away from us.”

WBA interim champion Wardley, 30, only knows how to fight aggressively. It’s not in his DNA to play it safe, box, move in circles, and clinch. He doesn’t do that. Wardley is going to come out fast, blasting Parker with shots, forcing him to either exchange or move, like he did in his fights against Wilder and Zhang.

Cracking the Parker Code

“One way or another, slow pace, fast pace, fiery or whatever, Fabio Wardley is coming out with a knockout win. Over my fights, I think I’ve pieced together enough attributes across different fighters that fight differently that have different skills to overall see a picture of Joseph Parker,” said Wardley when asked if he’s seen a fighter with the ‘technique and polish of Joseph Parker’ during his career.