Teddy Atlas is the latest to weigh in with his prediction for this weekend’s heavyweight showdown between Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley.
Parker has been a world-level fighter for several years and is a former WBO world champion. His current run includes beating Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole and he has shown he has power, smarts and plenty of heart along the way.
Wardley, meanwhile, has had just 20 fights and only a few white collar fights as an amateur. His best wins have been a brutal first round stoppage of Frazer Clarke and a late KO of Justis Huni after a tough battle.
Ahead of their meeting at The O2 Arena in London on Saturday, legendary trainer-turned-analyst Atlas has shared his thoughts, as speaking on The FIGHT, he makes an argument for both men being able to win.
“Wardley, there’s a war in his past, and there are casualties of war, there are. It takes a while to heal from a war, mentally, emotionally, physically. Four months ago, Wardley took a lot of punishment, a lot. He was in a war, a one-sided war, he was taking everything until he ended it in the 10th round cause he does have that great eraser.
“But, will he be impacted only four months later from that war, in a negative way, or will it be positive where he’s not used up, he’s a guy that’s fresh, for the most part he’s had his way. Will he be better served from what he learned? He’s still a work in progress.
“Sooner or later, the technique has to match up but the one thing Wardley has shown that nobody is talking about, he has a delivery system for the hydrogen bomb. He pulled it dying out of the fire against Huni.
“He sets a trap, he steps back to counter you and gets you to reach just a little bit, and he counters you with the right hand. He’s got that down good. Can he do that? That’s all that fight comes down to.
“Parker checks all the boxes – experiences, resume, the stages he’s been on. He can box, he can punch, he’s tough. If everything goes right he boxes Wardley all night, takes him apart, but if Parker makes that one mistake where he reaches a little bit…I think Wardley has a shot.”
The Parker vs. Wardley battle is set to have big implications for the heavyweight division, as a likely world title fight with Oleksandr Usyk awaits the winner.
