Fabio Wardley, the English everyman who has stormed the gates of the heavyweight division, added the latest chapter to his growing canon by blitzing Joseph Parker to earn an 11th-round stoppage and an interim title belt Saturday at London’s O2 Arena.
The dizzying rise of Wardley, 20-0-1 (18 KOs), from white-collar-fights moonlighter to unlikely professional to unimaginable heavyweight world titlist is a story that has lacked for almost nothing – including an irrational but definitive self-confidence from the 30-year-old from Ipswich, UK.
“I’ve got one thing – and one thing only – to say,” Wardley told DAZN and the O2 crowd after the fight, sing-songing the name of the man he is now theoretically in line to face: “Usyk! Usyk!”
The Parker defeat and the interim belt elevated Wardley to the WBO’s mandatory slot, which technically comes with the right to next face undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, 24-0 (15 KOs). As satisfying as that might be to fans salivating over the thought of a real-life Rocky-versus-Apollo matchup, it seems unlikely after Usyk already declined a Parker fight (due to injury claims) and is seemingly locked into the idea of maximizing his career twilight with the biggest, most lucrative fights.
But who knows? Wardley has already beaten all the odds and every conventional thought to make it this far.
"I said all the way through this build-up that we picked Joseph Parker because I believe I'm at the top, and I proved I'm at the top,” Wardley said.
"For what I lack in experience, I make up for in chin, heart and determination. I told everyone I wasn't losing today and that belt will be mine. I did everything I said I would do.”
But Wardley was also quick to acknowledge his opportunities, a foothold here and a helping hand there – stars aligning just so to allow him to sidestep his absence of amateur experience and make the climb to the highest ranks of boxing’s glamor division in just eight years.
"All credit to Joseph Parker,” Wardley said. “He can't get enough respect from him, and he deserves all the respect from the boxing community. He took a chance when he didn't have to, and we knew he wasn't going anywhere quickly. We had to pick our spots and eventually we got them out of there.
"Aside from that, It's down to Dillian White. I would still be lost in small halls, fighting at York Hall every few months, not hearing of me. He picked me out of the rough and changed my life. He deserves everything from me."
Almost everything, it seems. Wardley gave one final credit before signing off for the night.
"This is boxing, not football – but they are my 12th man on the pitch,” he said of his fans. “They are the extra fire to get Joe out of there. As much as I commend me and my team, it's the fans who travel up and down the country and across the world that shout my name. Thank you, everyone. I couldn't have done this without you."
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.
