Joseph Parker takes on Fabio Wardley in October, and Tony Bellew has made his prediction ahead of the bout.
These are two of the division’s in-form heavyweights. Parker has beaten Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole in his last three fights and by rights should be challenging Oleksandr Usyk for his WBO belt, but Usyk has claimed he is injured os has not begun discussions.
In the meantime, Parker is taking on Wardley, who rescued a points defeat last time out with a late KO of Justi Huni, and before that stopped Frazer Clarke inside the first round, having drawn a tough fight with the same man months earlier.
Speaking to FightLens, Bellew explained what he thinks would be better fights for Wardley than Parker.
“It’s a smart play by Frank Warren and his team to stick Fabio Wardley in. I come with the champion, I leave with the champion. It’s a Don King mentality. If I was managing Fabio Wardley, I don’t think he’s ready for that fight, and I think the Justis Huni fight showed that. He just needs a few more rounds against a bit better opposition. Once again, he falls into that bracket where Moses is. An Andy Ruiz fight is here. Maybe even a Jermaine Franklin fight makes more sense for Fabio Wardley than it does Moses Itauma.”
He then underlined Wardley’s lack of experience in the ring but gave him a puncher’s chance against Parker.
“You’ve got to remember Fabio Wardley comes from a white collar background with very little amateur experience. And it shows, cause Justis Huni is boxing him and outboxing him thoroughly, he’s winning most rounds. But then as I’ve said before, Fabio Wardley has that equaliser.”
Whoever comes out on top in this fight, and Eddie Hearn believes it will be Parker, will be well placed to challenge Usyk for his WBO world title.
