Former white-collar boxer wins heavyweight clash in 11th
Briton will now face world champion Oleksandr Usyk
The British heavyweight Fabio Wardley pulled off the biggest win of his career with an enormous upset over Joseph Parker to set up a world title shot against Oleksandr Usyk. In a pulsating contest at the O2 Arena, Wardley showed he has one of the toughest chins in the sport as he swallowed several huge punches from Parker before forcing the referee, Howard Foster, to stop the bout in an explosive 11th round.
The WBO had ordered the experienced Parker to face Usyk, the undisputed world heavyweight champion, in July, but the New Zealander put his mandatory challenger status on the line against Wardley, who was still involved in white-collar boxing when his opponent was world champion in 2016.
Parker promised to be a “different level” to the 30-year-old and that appeared the case for much of the bout in London. Wardley seemed to have missed out on the chance to stop the bout in a back-and-forth second round and again in the 10th, which appeared a sliding doors moments for the Ipswich right-hander.
