Carl Froch has weighed in on the debate surrounding Fabio Wardley’s stoppage win over Joseph Parker.
Ipswich’s Wardley put on the best performance of his career, taking Parker’s best shots and giving as good as he got. He took control in a big way during the eleventh round, forcing Parker back and hurting him to the point that the referee saw fit to wave the contest off in his favour.
Though the performance was fantastic, many in the sport feel the stoppage was early. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Froch praised both men, particularly underdog Wardley, before coming on to the stoppage.
“Round ten, he’s sitting down on his stool on my card he’s 6-4 ahead, but he’s sitting down quite badly hurt … But, let’s zoom in to round 11 … Fabio Wardley comes out and puts it on Parker and didn’t let off. As soon as he clipped him and had him hurt he just didn’t let go … He’s just super fit. A lot of stuff was wasted, he was smothering his work a bit, but he was getting through and he was catching Parker, wobbling them back.
“Referee Howard Foster, one of the best referees in the business even though he’s getting stick now, he was looking closely at Parker’s eyes. Wardley’s assault was ferocious … Parker, for me, should’ve grabbed hold of him in survival mode or maybe even take a knee, but he didn’t get caught with anything that bad cause it was messy.”
‘The Cobra’ then said that referee Howard Foster – who infamously helmed his first fight with George Groves for which the majority view is Groves was stopped early – said he would have liked to have seen the action continue.
“The general consensus is that it was stopped too early. One of my friends phoned me up straightaway saying ‘,what a load of crap, that’s out of order.’ I said listen, Howard Foster’s the best in the business, he knows the game. He’s in close. He’s looking in Parker’s eyes. If he didn’t see anything back then he’s gonna stop the fight.
“For me, I’d have liked to see the fight go on. Parker was ahead on my card. It was a close fight. He wasn’t getting caught with anything clean, he hadn’t been down, he wasn’t hurt … He’s a big strong lad and we want to see a conclusive finish … And it was in round 11, there was only one more go. Let’s see the finish. I think it should have gone on.”
Speaking to Seconds Out post-fight, Parker called for a rematch, though Wardley is much more likely to push on to challenge current undisputed king Oleksandr Usyk – a fight nobody saw coming even months ago.
