Fabio Wardley pulled off a huge upset to wreck Joseph Parker’s dreams of becoming a two-time world heavyweight champion on Saturday and put himself in position for a shot at undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk.
The British fighter is now the number one challenger for the Ukrainian after he claimed a stunning comeback victory by stopping the veteran New Zealander in the 11th round of an entertaining and bruising battle at London’s O2 Arena.
Wardley, 30, claimed the WBO interim title when he forced referee Howard Foster to stop the bout as he swarmed around former world champion Parker.
The Ipswich native brought the crowd to their feet and collapsed to the floor in celebration as his corner team piled into the ring to celebrate.
They were superb scenes as the former white-collar boxer continued his remarkable rise in the professional ranks.
The more experienced Parker, 33, had dominated for large parts of the fight and hurt Wardley numerous times with right hands.
Yet it was a right uppercut from Wardley in the 10th round which swung the bout firmly back in favour of the underdog.
The former WBO champion was fortunate that there were only 10 seconds remaining in the round, and he managed to survive.
However, Wardley would get his win in the next round as again he hurt Parker with a huge right hand to leave him reeling on the ropes and the Englishman did not let him off the hook.
Wardley wildly threw shots and Parker, almost defenceless, was unable to respond which forced the referee to step in.
This was Wardley’s 20th career win and his most important. Usyk now potentially awaits early next year.
Parker risked his position as the number one contender for Usyk’s crown by taking this fight, falling to his fourth career defeat.
It was a gamble that did not pay off, and he will regret not taking his chances when he had hurt Wardley earlier in the bout.
Wardley looked like he was running out of steam but, just like in his last fight against Justis Huni, he had the equaliser with his ferocious right hand.
Now he will wait to see when Usyk recovers from a back injury before negotiations begin for an undisputed heavyweight clash next year.
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