LONDON – Joseph Parker insisted he remained fit to fight on against Fabio Wardley when the referee Howard Foster intervened to rescue him in the 11th round of Saturday’s defeat.
Foster – the official who oversaw Carl Froch’s particularly controversial stoppage of George Groves in 2013 – waved the fight over after one minute and 54 seconds of the 11th round, by when Parker was leading on two of the three scorecards and drawing on the third.
That the heavyweight has previously recovered from knockdowns against more proven opponents – Zhilei Zhang prominent among them – has no doubt contributed to the criticism of Foster that has followed from some observers of the fight at London’s O2 Arena.
The 33-year-old Parker, regardless, had also been hurt and struggling to defend himself in the second and 10th rounds. In the second he spat his mouthguard out to give him time to recover; in the 10th he appeared at risk of being stopped.
Until the 10th Parker, more hesitant from the second, had largely outboxed his 30-year-old opponent. Wardley, from England and even more tired by the time of the stoppage, had struggled with the pace he set and also with his superior skills.
In the fourth defeat of his career Parker has sacrificed his hopes of a lucrative future fight with Oleksandr Usyk. He regardless recognised, post-fight, that even in victory, Wardley cannot be truly confident of challenging the Ukrainian next.
“At the end of the fight, I thought I was fine, but listen, I’m not the ref,” said the New Zealander. “I’m not the one controlling the fight in terms of refereeing. But I went out there – we both went out there and gave it our best and he won so he’s a better man.
“He’s a tough man. Like I said before the fight, he was confident, he had self-belief, and he showed that he’s a warrior. So all I can say is congratulations to Fabio Wardley for a tough fight. He’s a warrior. And a congratulations and all the best for what’s next. Hopefully we can have a rematch – that’s the way it is.
“It sucks, losing a fight. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m all happy, but life goes on. Boxing is part of what I do, but I’m very blessed with a wife and kids and a happy family, so I’m going to go back to them and regroup and see what’s next. But I want to say congratulations to my opponent because he won the fight fair and square and now he’s moving on to a bigger fight.
“He caught me with a few shots [in the 10th]. I felt it, but I wasn’t very badly hurt. I wanted to carry on, obviously after the second round did carry on, but then the 10th, 11th round, with a few shots, I guess the ref said it was too much. Too many shots.
“[Wardley’s power is] right up there. He caught me with a few shots and I was like ‘Oh nice’ but he took the challenge, we both did, and he put on a good performance. I was doing quite well in the fight and then obviously you get caught and it’s boxing. I felt fine when they stopped the fight but I’m not the judge; I’m not the referee to stop the fight or let it go on. I wanted to carry on.”
Parker agreed to fight Wardley when he was already positioned to be Usyk’s opponent. It would be an oversimplification and potential misjudgement of Usyk’s intentions to conclude that if he had remained patient he would have fought the Ukrainian next.
At 38 and among the most decorated fighters in history it remains unclear whether Usyk will fight again in the future. Parker’s finances were also enhanced by the status of his fight with Wardley being pay-per-view. There is also the reality that the entertainment involved in Saturday’s contest and the narrative already being built surrounding the stoppage suggests that he and Wardley could fight again.
“I don’t regret anything I do,” Parker responded when asked if he regretted gambling with his previous position. “It’s boxing. Life is bigger than just boxing. Boxing is part of what I do, but I’m very blessed to have a beautiful family, a wonderful team, and I’m going to continue to go on.
“I still want to carry on – it’s just a bump in the road and I still want to carry on. I felt good out there.
“I still have the fight in me and I guess I have to show that in the next fight. Otherwise, if it doesn't go my way again, then it will be very difficult [to rebuild].
“I felt I had him many times but he showed character, he showed his toughness and he kept coming back. So, credit to him for being able to take those shots and bounce back and show resilience in the fight.”
“Joe was boxing well,” Parker’s respected trainer Andy Lee responded when asked if he they ought to have done anything differently. “He was winning the rounds; just getting caught with punches. You can have the best game plan in the world – it’s why we call it the equaliser, isn’t it? It equalises everything. I wouldn’t change anything. I’m just very proud of Joe for all his hard work.”
Frank Warren – who promotes Parker and Wardley and most of the world’s other leading heavyweights not called Usyk – insisted that Wardley will fight the undisputed champion. Like an experienced promoter he also sees the bigger picture of Wardley’s career and Saturday night’s fight, and revealed that a rematch is already in his mind.
“He’s going to have his fight [with Usyk], and then after that, why not?” said the figurehead of Queensberry Promotions. “I mean, it’s a great fight. Everybody would want to see that again, wouldn’t they?”
“I’m not so sure [he can beat Usyk],” said Parker. “If that fight is to be made, we’ll all see how it’ll go, but I do feel like I was leading the fight. Like Andy said, he’s got that equaliser; he can change everything. I still felt fine after the fight, I wanted to carry on
“I want to go again.”
