Dave Allen has sparred Oleksandr Usyk so is well placed to assess how Fabio Wardley might get on with the pound-for-pound king following his win over Joseph Parker.
For many people, Wardley was the underdog against the much more experienced Parker, who is a former WBO world champion.
Parker started well, imposing himself in the first round, but Wardley got his own foothold in the second round before Parker once again started to pull away on the cards.
He was up on all three going into the 11th round, but Wardley landed a big shot that sent Parker backwards and followed up with plenty more, which led the referee to stop the fight, much to Parker’s chagrin.
Wardley is now the mandatory for Usyk’s WBO world title and speaking on his own YouTube channel, ‘The White Rhino,’ assessed how he could fare if he were to fight Usyk.
“You can’t really rule that man out to be honest. He’s that fit, that tough, punches that hard and he has the want to punch that you can’t really rule him out, but can I see him beating Usyk? Not really. Can’t see him getting anywhere near him.
“But I was certain Parker would beat him so, yeah, I’ve got to hold my hands up. I was very, very, very wrong. He’s getting better all the time.”
Usyk has so far been too good for anyone he has faced across two divisions, with wins over the likes of Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois. Whether or not Wardley has what it takes to trouble him, fans may well find out in 2026.
