Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley are heading for an October 25 showdown at London's O2 Arena, The Ring have reported. Queensberry Promotions are set to stage the bout.
Parker, who last week returned to the gym to work with his trainer Andy Lee, has seemingly decided to look elsewhere for an opponent following an injury to undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk. BoxingScene reported that the WBO were investigating Usyk's injury after the Ukrainian posted a video of himself dancing last week. The 33-year-old Parker, by virtue of his WBO interim title, is next in line to face Usyk. However, the New Zealander's only action since a decision win over Zhilei Zhang 16 months ago was a two-round blowout of late substitute Martin Bakole in February and he's keen to shake off the cobwebs and return to work.
BoxingScene reported that the WBO were investigating Usyk's injury after the Ukrainian posted a video of himself dancing last week. The 33-year-old Parker, by virtue of his WBO interim title, is next in line to face Usyk.
Wardley, the WBA interim belt-holder, will represent a stern test. The 30-year-old dramatically stopped Justis Huni in the 10th round to take his record to 19-0-1 (18 KOs) but the Briton had been outboxed prior to landing a sensational right hand that ended the fight. Prior to that, last October, Wardley savaged Frazer Clarke inside a round.
