Joseph Parker is Oleksandr Usyk‘s mandatory challenger, but it may be likely he isn’t going to be fighting him next.
Parker is one of the heavyweight division’s form men right now. In his last three fights, he has beaten American Deontay Wilder and China’s Zhilei Zhang, both on points, and last time out, he got an impressive second round KO victory over Martin Bakole. Bakole was a late stand-in for Daniel Dubois, who fell ill in the final hours before the fight, meaning Parker missed out on his shot at the IBF world championship.
He should be fighting Usyk next, though the two-time undisputed ruler has not engaged in negotiations and claimed he had a back injury.
Speaking to Boxing News, Parker’s manager Spencer Brown revealed a three-man shortlist Parker could face instead.
“I think he’ll defend his interim title before Christmas, he’ll have to, cause he’ll have to have a fight. I think he’ll fight an English guy, one of the top-level English guys.
‘Whether it’s Dubois, whether its Fabio Wardley, there’s quite a few to choose from at the moment. It might be Derek Chisora, he’s got himself into a great place.
“So he will fight, in my opinion, one of those three. There’s one person, I can’t tell you, who particularly sticks out who I think the fight will happen with.”
It has since been reported by Everything Boxing that Wardley is the current frontrunner for the fight, with the unbeaten Brit potentially set for a big step up against Parker, fresh from his knockout victory over Justis Huni back in June.
- Wardley has an undefeated record of 19 wins and one draw, with 18 of his victories coming by knockout, with Parker potentially tasked with facing another huge puncher if the fight does come to fruition.
