Fabio Wardley believes that if he beats Joseph Parker, undisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk will want to fight him next.
The winner of Wardley’s October 25 bout with Parker will be the mandatory challenger for the WBO heavyweight title, one of the four world championships that Usyk holds.
If Usyk is to retain the WBO belt he will have to fight the Wardley-Parker victor next. But the great Ukrainian will have other options and could always vacate that particular title.
But Wardley reckons Usyk would welcome a fight with another well-known British opponent.
“I think I’m an exciting fight for him,” Wardley told Sky Sports. “Boxing at the moment, with the landscape and the different options and things people have, he may see his career in a different direction or may do something else.
“But I think I’m probably one of the most entertaining fighters out there at the moment and I think he’s a natural born entertainer inside and outside of the ring. So I think very much so, he’d enjoy a fight with me.”
Wardley did struggle in his last fight with Australian Justis Huni, but at Portman Road football ground the Ipswich man uncorked a one-punch knockout in the 10th round, just when he needed it.
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Speaking on Toe2Toe, Barry Jones and George Groves discuss whether Fabio Wardley’s heavyweight clash with Justis Huni was stopped too early.
While he was outboxed in large part in the contest, he showed power late on and a finisher’s instinct coupled with undeniable heart and determination.
“Those are qualities that you can only find in yourself in the moment, in real time,” Wardley said.
“I always believed that they were there but you need to be tested properly for them to come out and I believe that fight was the right fight to do that, for me and for everyone to see it might not be going my way perfectly, the fight might be going a bit wayward but , as a fighter and as a person, I will always believe that I’m always in there until the very end.”
Though he drew with Frazer Clarke last year, he avenged that with a first-round knockout and has never lost a fight.
Parker is more experienced, and by far the highest-level opponent Wardley has faced. But Wardley remains confident.
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Former World heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis advises Oleksandr Usyk to retire ‘at the top’ when he decides to step away from the ring.
“He has been beaten before. He has hit the canvas before, a number of times. Don’t get me wrong, he’s got up a number of times as well but it has been proven that he can be beaten. Which for me as of yet is unproven, is unseen,” he said.
“Knowing there is already out there blueprints and ways to beat Joseph Parker and ways to get round him, I just need to make sure I do my thing on the night and exploit those properly.”
He will be highly motivated. “You’re inches away, you’re in touching distance of that world title, of fighting on a different kind of scale,” he added.
“That’s a great incentive to have. It’s not where the focus is at the moment because don’t get me wrong, there’s no looking past Joseph Parker.”