Dave Allen thinks someone is getting knocked out when Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley square off this weekend.
Both of these heavyweights are in good form of late. Parker enters as WBO interim champion with a record of 36 wins and 24 KOs, while Wardley currently holds the WBA interim belt and has stopped 18 of the 19 men he has faced.
Parker is the much more experienced fighter and the former WBO ruler who was the first man to take Anthony Joshua the distance, so he knows how to box and move, has tight defences and can also land big shots.
In the last year he has beaten Martin Bakole inside two rounds, and outpointed both Deontay Wilder and Zhieli Zhang.
Wardley relies more on his power as a former white collar boxer with little amateur pedigree. In his last fight, that power rescued him from what was looking like a points defeat against Justis Huni, and he has also stopped the likes of Frazer Clarke and David Adeleye.
Parker and Wardley now meet at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday, and ahead of the bout, much-loved British heavyweight Allen has kept his prediction short and sweet whilst speaking to Boxing News.
“I think Parker will stop Wardley. Too experienced and too good.”
Allen is not the only one who thinks Parker will have too much experience, with heavyweight contender and a former sparring partner of both men, Guido Vianello, also siding with the New Zealander.
The winner of this fight will likely take a big step toward a shot at the two-time undisputed and undefeated champion Oleksandr Usyk.
