Rather than sit idle and wait for Usyk, Joseph Parker will square off against the 19-0-1 Fabio Wardley. Watch live on DAZN Sunday October 26.
Video / DAZN
Fabio Wardley is well aware of the opportunity before him.
The WBA interim world heavyweight champion has become the beneficiary of an injury to undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk as he looks to skip the queue for a shot at the crown.
In late July, the WBO orderedUsyk to put the belts on the line against the organisation’s own interim champion, Kiwi Joseph Parker; the WBO being at the front of the line for the next mandatory challenge.
However, with a back injury keeping the Ukrainian on the sidelines for the rest of the year, Parker has opted to stay busy and he will put his spot on the line against Englishman Wardley in London on Sunday morning.
“This is my first big step into that realm. Former world champion, so for me this is the biggest fight of my life, without doubt, so far in my career,” Wardley told DAZN.
“To not look ahead and stay very much focused on the opponent in front of me may be slightly easier because I haven’t tasted that other side yet.
“He’s been a former world champion, has had a bit of that... he was close to getting that [Usyk] fight, then things pivoted and now it’s me. My only thing was who’s the next guy? Right, it’s Parker. Let’s go, let’s focus.”
Wardley, 30, is yet to be defeated in 20 professional bouts with 19 wins and a draw. Of his wins, only one has gone to the scorecards.
His ability to change a fight was on full display in his most recent outing against Australian Justis Huni. After being comfortably outboxed for most of the first nine rounds, Wardley perfectly timed a right hand to catch Huni coming into range and send the Australian to the canvas.
Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley will square off in London this Sunday. Photo / Getty Images
What looked like it was on the way to being a lopsided decision win for the Australian became a highlight-reel stoppage for the Brit and ultimately earned him a clash with Parker.
Parker, 33, comes into the bout riding a six-fight winning streak, with his last three wins coming against top-level competition in Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole, and Wardley said he thought the Kiwi was in the best vein of his career yet.
“I think he’s in his prime. I think he would probably say the same thing,” Wardley said.
“He’s had a taste of a world title before and he’s again, same as me, one punch away from having another bite at it.”
As for whether or not his well-utilised power could provide a point of difference, Wardley pointed out that he wasn’t the only one who had that sort of weapon.
“We’re all heavyweights. We’re all big boys. We can all whack,” he said.
“Maybe I put a bit more into it, maybe I sit on my shots a bit more, but knowing I have that in my back pocket is a nice little reserve; a fallback.
“But that’s never the game plan, run into a fight, be the majority of the points down and just try in the last couple of rounds to just wing it and win. That’s not what me... the team, that’s not what we’re planning for.
“But it does just show sometimes when things don’t go right, I’m not going to [put my] head down, feel sorry for myself and cry about it. It’s crack on, keep going and we’ll find a way to win.”
