With just hours to go before Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley come to blows, one former champion has predicted a knockout ending.
Wardley is making a huge step up in this fight. He has quickly risen through the ranks and is a former British and Commonwealth champion, but has never faced anyone with the skills and experience of Parker, a former WBO champion who has beaten the likes of Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder.
Wardley’s best wins have come against Frazer Clarke, who he knocked out in the first round, and last time out he rescued what looked like a points defeat with a late KO of Justis Huni.
Ahead of the fight at the O2 Arena on Saturday, some of boxing’s biggest names have offered their thoughts on the bout, and now Hall of Fame inductee Tim Bradley has shared his verdict.
Speaking on his own YouTube channel, two-weight world champion Bradley explained why he thinks Wardley will get stopped.
“Wardley about to get knocked out. This fight about to go maybe four, five rounds at the most, if that, because Joseph Parker will knock him out with a right hand. It’s going to be a right hand that will start it off. It might be a right hand followed by combinations but it’s going to be a right hand.
“For Wardley, the biggest issue is not the fact he jabs and brings it back low. Wardley hangs out and puts most of his weight on his back foot. You got to put weight on your lead foot to move back and make space.
“Wardley leans back, which means he can explode coming forward, but when offence comes his way he’s stuck in the mud, he’s heavy on his back foot, he can’t push off his front foot to get the hell out the way … You heard it here first.”
There is plenty on the line in this contest between Parker and Wardley, with a shot at WBO ruler Oleksandr Usyk seemingly up for grabs for whoever comes out on top.
