Speaking to BBC Sport’s Kal Sajad, WBO interim heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley says he would like to face undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk next, following his victory against Joseph Parker.
READ MORE: What next for heavyweight division after Wardley win?
Fabio Wardley pulls off a huge upset to wreck Joseph Parker’s dreams of becoming a two-time world heavyweight champion and put himself in position for a shot at undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk.
READ MORE: GB’s Wardley stops Parker in huge heavyweight upset
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It was a who’s who of the British heavyweight scene in the arena with Tyson Fury, Daniel Dubois, Moses Itauma, Derek Chisora and Dillian Whyte among the onlookers.
Usyk was not here, but he was the man this bout was all for.
Wardley walked to the ring decked out in Ipswich Town colours with the football club’s crest emblazoned on his kit.
He spoke in the build-up how it was remarkable that when Parker was winning the WBO heavyweight title in 2016, he was only competing in white-collar boxing.
Yet here he was on the same stage as the veteran Kiwi in a fight to determine the next challenger for Usyk, the greatest heavyweight of this era.
With Lee in his corner, Parker was a red-hot run coming into this bout of six wins including victories over the likes of Zhilei Zhang, Deontay Wilder and Martin Bakole.
As cries of ‘Oh Fabio Wardley’ rang around the arena, Parker established control with a ramrod of a jab that soon brought blood from the bridge of the Ipswich fighter’s nose.
The finish to the first three minutes was emphatic from the favourite as Parker powered through with a rocket of a right hand.
Parker’s control vanished when a right hand from Wardley rocked him in the second.
It would be a precursor to what would follow later in the fight. It was a beautiful shot and brought those ringside to their feet as the New Zealander looked unsteady on his.
The experience of Parker, in his 40th professional fight, looked like it was going to be crucial here. Wardley was always dangerous, but Parker was landing the better shots through the middle rounds.
The Kiwi’s left uppercuts to the body and right hands over the top were a particular highlight, but Wardley’s own backhand remained a threat.
The fight appeared to be fizzling out in the eighth before it burst back into life and swung firmly back in Wardley’s favour in the 10th.
He ensured his stunning story would get another chapter against Usyk when he swarmed Parker in the 11th with a barrage of shots which forced Foster to step in.
It may have been early but Wardley will argue that Parker was taking significant punishment.
Former world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker says he is “focused and prepared” before Saturday’s fight against Fabio Wardley, who hopes to rely on his punching power to get through their bout at London’s O2 Arena.
READ MORE: ‘I watched Parker from the pub, now I’m fighting him’
Listen to Joseph Parker v Fabio Wardley on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website & app on Saturday, 25 October.
The Ipswich fighter came in at 17st 5lb (110 kg), consistent with his recent bouts.
“This is the one before the one. All the work is done. Training is ticked off. All the hard work is put in. Let’s get some rest now. Big night coming up tomorrow,” he added.
Spitalfields Market in east London saw more than fresh produce on the scales as the two heavyweights squared up for the final time before fight night.
Parker winked at the camera and bobbed along to the music.
As he flexed his muscles, he looked hefty and powerful as he tipped the scales at 18st 10lb (119 kg), just five pounds lighter than his career-heaviest.
It is a far cry from the 16st 12lb (107 kg) version who lost his world title to Anthony Joshua in 2018.
“We’re weary, we’re cautious, but I’m going to fight fire with fire and I’m going to get to him,” Parker said.
New Zealand’s former world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker says he will prove he is at a “different level” to British opponent Fabio Wardley.
The two face each other at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday with the winner expected to face undisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk next.
Listen to Joseph Parker v Fabio Wardley on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website & app on Saturday 25 October.
READ MORE: Wardley v Parker to be live on BBC
An outdoor fight in the United Kingdom is never without its risks. Fans wore ponchos and reporters scrambled for shelter as heavy rain fell throughout the evening.
The downpour eased when Brisbane native Huni made his ring walk to a predictably hostile reception, before the mood shifted as a steely-faced and focused Wardley emerged.
Bathed in the golden glow of the floodlight, the Ipswich-born boxer soaked in the moment he had been dreaming of since turning professional.
The opening rounds saw both fighters cautiously size each other up.
Huni – well-schooled and boasting serious amateur pedigree – landed a thudding left hook followed by a sharp right in the third.
Wardley, who only took up boxing at 19 and turned pro after just four white-collar bouts, was known for his raw power and ability to dig deep.
But it was Huni landing the cleaner shots, especially with that left hook.
With only two contests beyond six rounds in his career, Wardley began to feel the pace. His timing was off and a grimace in the seventh said it all after Huni whipped in a punishing right hook.
Just when it seemed the homecoming would turn into a nightmare, Wardley achieved one of the biggest turnarounds in recent times to send the crowd into a frenzy.
After his beloved football team’s recent relegation from the Premier League, with the Tractor Boys failing to register a single home league win in 2025, Wardley brought the good times back to Ipswich.
FABIO WARDLEY has floored the baffling suggestion that he could fight his mentor and pal Dillian Whyte.
After following all of Wardley’s career, we were stunned to hear the idea even mooted from some clumsy pundits.
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But Wardley told SunSport with a laugh: “From the second it would be announced, everybody who knows the sport and who knows us, would know it would be fake and not something I would ever do, because of the amount of love, respect and admiration I have for Dills.
“People go on about my story, white-collar, coming from nowhere, sparring Usyk.
“But none of that is possible without Dillian at the beginning, giving me all of these opportunities.
“So I would never spit in his face and fight him.
“Even if all the sanctioning bodies called for the fight and somebody was silly enough to put all the money up, I would take a knee in the first round and give him the win.”
Ipswich’s 30-year-old former recruitment worker and white-collar boxer headlines Portman Road on Saturday night against tough Australian Justis Huni.
Whyte was due to feature on the Ipswich undercard but pulled out to secure a summer showdown with Lawrence Okolie.
He has not boxed in England since November 2022 and was supposed to have a rematch with Anthony Joshua in August 2023.
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FABIO WARDLEY VS JUSTIS HUNI: ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED AHEAD OF HUGE BOUT
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But that O2 sell-out was scrapped when Whyte failed a doping test.
Whyte has boxed in Gibraltar and Ireland since that big-money clash was binned, landing underwhelming wins.
For Wardley, on June 16 his partner is scheduled to give birth to his first child, a bouncing baby girl.
For anyone else, the nail-biting fortnight would be a crippling rollercoaster of emotions impossible to combine.
But the Suffolk Puncher – who went on an Oleksandr Usyk sparring trip to Ukraine in 2018 when he barely knew how to throw a jab – is loving the chaos.
The class act told SunSport: “June 2025 is going to be a wild month I talk a lot about, for the rest of my life.
“I will be an old man in a rocking chair, telling people about it and wondering how we pulled it off.
“Everything has come together at the same time, it might seem a bit hectic but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I thrive on it, I love the chaos.”
Nine months ago, the 18-0-1 ace got the wonderful news he would be a dad for the first time.
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And a few weeks later he got the offer of a lifetime, to headline at his boyhood football club, a chance that some Olympic and world champions never get.
It seems like a psychological and logistical nightmare that would be destined for the divorce courts but Team Wardley is way too tight.
“If my little girl is anything like me, then she’ll be chilled out and late, which will give me a little bit more time to decompress from the fight,” he grinned.
“The flight date has been moved around a few times but my missus has been unbelievable.
“I have just promised to her that, as soon as Saturday night is over, I am all theirs.
“This week, though, is just my week. I need to be totally focused on me and then it’s all on them.”
Wardley – who cracked 2020 Olympic bronze winner Frazer Clarke’s skull in their one-round rematch in October – somehow combines being a brutal boxer with being a lovely bloke and he insists that won’t change with another win or a baby.
“I don’t know how parenthood will affect me,” he said. “I do plan to be the fun-dad though.
“I want mum to do the telling off. I think I will always be driven to push myself in everything, though.
“That’s something just innate in me. And I am sure I will need to feed and stoke that fire regularly.”
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FABIO WARDLEY is preparing for a huge homecoming bout THIS WEEKEND!
The lifelong Ipswich Town fan will take to the ring at Portman Road as he faces Justis Huni on Saturday night.
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A win for Wardley would see him move into pole position for a shot at the WBA heavyweight title.
The unbeaten Brit was due to fight Jarrell Miller, but the American was forced to pull out of the bout due to a shoulder injury.
In stepped Huni, on roughly six weeks’ notice, who is looking to cause a huge upset on Wardley’s homecoming.
Wardley goes into the fight as the big favourite, but Australian Huni, 26, is not expected to be a pushover.
He is unbeaten, with a record of 12 wins and seven KOs, although he hasn’t fought much outside of Australia.
Dillian Whyte is chief support for the event – but the Body Snatcher does not yet have an opponent booked.
There will also be lots of eyes on Lewis Richardson, who makes his pro debut against Dmitri Protkunas.
Richardson won a middleweight bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics.
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Here are all the bouts taking place at Portman Road.
Wardley said he is facing the wrath of his partner – who is due just a week after the fight.
He said: “This is a slightly tense topic. My missus wasn’t the happiest with this fight date.
“She is due a week later but it is Portman Road. It’s not just any fight, it’s the one at Portman Road. She said, ‘Yeah I know but…’
“They say the chances are that the first one comes late but who knows.”
On fighting at Portman Road, he added: “Of course it comes with pressure. But pressure is a privilege. Being here is a privilege.
“Being able to fight here is a privilege and I think I have proven throughout my career that I do well under pressure.
“I like it. When the lights are bright, when the occasion is big, it’s when you get the best from me.
Huni told Sporting News: “I want to go over there and make them never forget my name.
“Fighting over there in his hometown, I feel like there’s no pressure on me, all the pressure’s on him.
“He has to come and perform for his people.
“At the end of the day, I don’t know anyone there and a lot of them might not even know me. They’ll know after, that’s it.”