Parker vs. Wardley: Clash of Giants in London on October 25th

Boxer Joseph Parker will face British heavyweight Fabio Wardley on October 25 at the O2 Arena in London. The high-caliber heavyweight division fight was confirmed on Saturday. Parker, holder of the WBO interim title (36-3, 25 KOs), was looking to face Wardley, who is undefeated, due to a delay in his expected fight with undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Neither Joe nor Fabio wanted to wait and protect their positions, and I give credit to both of them for this.

Frank Warren, promoter

Warren added that he expects a clash with diverse styles and attractive to the public.

Parker was in line to challenge Usyk. The WBO ordered Usyk to begin negotiations with Parker and gave him 30 days to agree to a fight after his victory over Daniel Dubois last month. However, due to an injury, the Ukrainian was granted an extension by the governing body, with a new deadline set for the end of this month. Sources close to Parker indicated that the boxer intended to stay active. Parker’s last fight was in February, where he achieved a knockout over Martin Bakole. Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs), from Ipswich, is the WBA interim champion and has great national support. The 30-year-old boxer is coming off an impressive knockout victory over Australian Justis Huni in June. Although Parker is from New Zealand, he also has a good number of followers in the United Kingdom, where he has been training with Tyson Fury and coach Andy Lee.