When in March 2018 Joseph Parker fought Anthony Joshua for the IBF and WBO heavyweight titles, a date between Joshua and Deontay Wilder represented the most appealing heavyweight fight that could be made.
Joshua in 2017 retired the great Wladimir Klitschko and Parker, in late 2016, won the vacant WBO title with victory over Andy Ruiz. Between them they represented the new generation at the top of the increasingly appealing heavyweight division – Wilder and the inactive Tyson Fury had by then already established themselves – but it was a fight between the British poster boy Joshua and his American counterpart Wilder that appealed above all else.
When Parker was dethroned that night by Joshua, the new unified champion and the unstoppable marketing machine behind him was considered to have taken the most natural of steps towards the in-demand shootout with Wilder that it was widely hoped would follow. Parker lost again later that year, against Dillian Whyte on the evening on which Whyte produced his finest performance; Joshua-Wilder still hadn’t been made but remained a prominent discussion point even on the eve of Wilder’s fight that December with the returning Fury.
Parker fought and defeated the little-known Alexander Flores in Christchurch in his home country of New Zealand two weeks after Fury – in so entertainingly drawing with Wilder – joined Joshua and Wilder at the very top. He was confronting a more daunting road back to the title picture than that that had led him to Ruiz and the WBO title in the first place, and yet after years of consistent improvement and a further 11 victories he is almost certain to remain on that road in 2026.
After illness forced Daniel Dubois’ withdrawal from their IBF title fight in February and Parker responded by stopping in two rounds Dubois’ respected late-notice replacement Martin Bakole, Parker watched Dubois then enter an undisputed title fight against the great Oleksandr Usyk. Dubois lost even more convincingly than he had during their first fight in 2023, and the patient Parker, having done everything demanded of him, then endured the injustice of learning that the influential Turki Alalshikh had describe a contest between Usyk and the promising-but-vastly-inexperienced Moses Itauma as “the fight” instead.
As in 2018 when Parker’s ambition contributed to him risking his undefeated status and title against Joshua he was again an afterthought. He had also since watched Ruiz earn and sacrifice his place alongside Joshua, Wilder and Fury, Whyte challenge Fury and then dramatically decline, defeated Wilder to record his highest-profile victory, and above all else – due in part to training alongside Fury and recruiting Andy Lee to be his trainer – consistently and significantly improved.
Even in the event of victory over Fabio Wardley on Saturday at London’s O2 Arena, however, regardless of how Saturday’s contest is marketed there is no guarantee that he will ever fight Usyk; that Parker will be any closer to ending his period as the heavyweight on the outside looking in.
Wardley is a considerably less cultured, experienced and proven fighter than Parker but his undoubted power means he will consistently pose a threat on Saturday evening. Parker, rightly, is the favourite. But he risks sacrificing the progress made in the seven years since losing to Whyte, and Wardley – managed by Whyte – can not only inherit that progress but also expect as swift a route back to his present position as Dubois got after losing to Usyk, Joshua will be offered after losing to Dubois, Ruiz relished after losing to Parker, and Wilder can hope for after losing to Parker as well.
Wardley may even have more chance of challenging Usyk after victory over Parker than Parker would have after victory over him. Parker, at 33 years old, also recognises that that is his reality – perhaps a little too well.
“I don’t believe anything in boxing,” he told BoxingScene. “You can be promised this; you can be promised that. But until it’s locked in, it’s never going to be the case of ‘That’s next’.
“Also, who can really say, because Usyk’s in charge of himself? No one can actually force Usyk to do anything he doesn’t want to do. I think Usyk will fight again because he’s still got a lot to give – he looked sensational in his last fight [in July] against Daniel Dubois. Saying that, I’m not sure who Usyk will fight next. I’m not sure he’ll take this fight [against me]. If he hasn’t taken it already, there’s probably a reason why. Is he going to get more money fighting someone else? It just depends on what he values in boxing. He’s fought everyone there is, so I think there’s more of a risk-return [to consider], maybe, for him.
“I want to fight for the championship of the world. [Be] unified, or undisputed or whatever. But it’s out of my control. What I can control is what’s in front of me, which is Fabio Wardley, so I’m excited for that.”
Parker’s recognition of what may or may not be within his control was said without a hint of the weariness he would be entitled to feel. It is that same humility that contributed to him describing Usyk as having fought “everyone”, despite he and Usyk having never shared a ring.
It is also recognition of his only other defeat, in 2022 by Joe Joyce on – as with Whyte – the evening that the then-undefeated Joyce produced his finest performance. Joyce, like Whyte, has since dramatically declined, but while victories over Wilder, Bakole and Zhilei Zhang – comparable to those over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Joshua that transformed Dubois’ career; Dubois himself lost and rebuilt after defeat by Joyce – are among those that have followed, it is Wardley, the former white-collar boxer who in 2018 watched Joshua-Parker from a pub, with whom he has been matched.
“There were a few good fighters out there – other top heavyweights – but I do believe that was number one and number two [when I fought Joshua],” Joshua explained. “Wilder was in the picture as well so he was right up there as well, you know?
“When you look at Fabio Wardley’s story, it’s a great story. I’m very happy for him and what he’s been able to achieve in the time that he’s been in boxing, starting off in white collar. I know he has the ‘white collar’ title, but he can’t really use it now ‘cause of the experience he’s been able to gain. In each and every fight he’s been getting better and better. There’s a good story that he has – who would have thought from him watching myself at the pub, with Anthony Joshua, to getting this fight locked in… I’ve been in this sport for a long time and to be honest I’m not done yet – I’m not close to done yet. I’m just getting into my prime now. He’s going to be challenging a very good Joseph Parker come fight night.
“I’m a better fighter now than I’ve ever been in my whole career, and that comes down to many factors. The team that I have; the work that I’m able to put in; the belief; it all comes down to belief. When you get knocked down and have a few losses people think that you’re done. But if you have that strong belief that you belong at the top – no one can take that away from me. For the fighter that I was when I won the championship of the world, fighting Anthony Joshua, until now – the difference is very, very, very big.
“The experience comes down to years of putting in the work, and also being open to learning. When you’re champion of the world and fighting Anthony Joshua for a unification, people may think that you’re the complete fighter and that you have everything, but you’re not – you’re always learning along the way, and you have to humble yourself to be able to learn from others.
“Everything’s all learning, right? And if you’re not open to learning, you’re never going to grow as a fighter. If you think you’re the complete fighter then you might come unstuck when you face someone else, so you have to be humble.”
The fighters outside of the most fortunate few also have to make sacrifices. Parker first committed to his career when he relocated from New Zealand to the UK to train alongside Fury. He made further sacrifices when, having been impressed by Lee in Fury’s training camp, he committed to training with Lee in Dublin, Ireland – as when in the UK, as far away from his family and friends as he could hope to be. Most recently he resigned himself to missing his younger brother’s wedding in an attempt to be fully prepared for the 30-year-old Wardley – even doing so after agreeing to be his best man.
“My brother’s wedding was locked in a while ago, and when they gave me the options of the fight and fight dates, this was the only date that was available to have this fight,” he said. “I was my brother’s best man, and when the fight was being talked about I spoke to him. I said ‘Hey, John – I’ve got this fight that’s gonna get locked in. You okay if I miss the wedding?’, and he said: ‘Go and do what you need to do. Your time in boxing isn’t going to be forever so go and make the most of it while you can.’
“With his blessing, I locked in the fight. I won’t be able to attend but my wife [Laine] and I have done everything we can [including financially] to help John back in New Zealand with the wedding and whatever he needs to make it a special day for himself and for his wife.
“I’ve missed my sister’s wedding; I’ve missed the births of my three daughters; I’ve missed my mum’s 50th birthday. I’ve missed so many things because of boxing, but it’s given us a good life, and everyone around me supports the decision because boxing’s not going to be here forever. But when you do get the opportunity to get a fight locked in, you take it with both hands – make the most of it and make it count. It’s a shame I can’t be there for his special day, but he’s very understanding, as well as everyone around me including my wife, family – everyone. So it makes it a lot easier for me. I don’t feel any guilt. Everyone’s on board, and everyone’s supportive. I’m blessed to have a supportive team, supportive family – they all want the best for me as well.
“That support means that you can just put your head down and focus on your job. Which is to train; which is to recover; which is to be the best you can be on fight night, and I’ve got the best team around me. I’ve had the best camp; I’ve had a great camp, actually. Probably one of the best camps I’ve ever had, and I need to. I need to be well prepared because of who’s in front of me and what he brings.”
What Wardley brings is considerable power – enough to stop all but one of his 19 professional opponents. Jakub Wojcik, on the occasion of his four-round professional debut in 2017, was the exception; Wardley also memorably drew with Frazer Clarke over 12 rounds in March 2024, but when they fought again six months later he won inside a round. Wardley is also raw in a way that has the potential to make him more dangerous than more polished rivals. In each way he is similar to the Wilder Parker shared the ring with in 2023, but where he lacks anything like Wilder’s or Parker’s experience he retains, as Parker acknowledges, the self-belief and desire permanently lost to Wilder and that Parker – particularly given Joshua also appears lost without his confidence and hunger – did so well to recover, regardless of the influence of Lee.
“He’s improved a lot, and you can see that progression with each fight that he has,” he said of Wardley. “The progression he’s made has been tremendous, and also, he’s improved, and you can see, with each fight, he’s getting better and better.
“When I sat down with him at the press conference – he’s got this belief. When you have someone with this belief and trust in themselves, it makes them a dangerous fighter, and also, he hasn’t been defeated before, so he’s still got that undefeated shield where you think you’re unstoppable and unbeatable – invincible.
“He’s looking better and better and he’s learning but he still has a lot of things to work on, like every other fighter. There’s always things to work on; there’s always things to improve on, and you’ll never going to be the complete fighter. There’s always things that change and always things to improve and always things that you can adjust and adapt to make better. Even though he’s getting better and better, there’s still a long way to go.”
If it is tempting for Parker to take confidence from his victory over Wilder into the ring on Saturday, it would no doubt also be tempting for him to observe the performance of Justis Huni – a relatively late-notice replacement as Wardley’s opponent – for the first nine rounds of their fight in June.
Huni, rightly, was leading convincingly on the scorecards until being stopped in the 10th round by the somewhat unpredictable Wardley’s raw power. It was a performance that suggested that Wardley’s level had been established but the first fight with Clarke suggested similarly; it was also the nature of the fight that so often leads to both fighters continuing to improve.
“He did what he had to do [in June against Justis Huni],” said Parker. “When you’re losing a fight that much and losing all the rounds, and still have that willingness to carry on and stay focused and disciplined, and also timing that – it was a well-timed right hand that landed on Justis Huni. It shows that he can carry his power all the way through. Everyone says that one punch can change everything – that changed his life, ‘cause now he’s got a bigger opportunity and a bigger fight, and also, the winner of this fight, hopefully does get Usyk.”
Parker just as easily could have been considering the names of Joshua, Whyte and Joyce as those of Wilder, Zhang and Bakole when he drew his final conclusion about his opponent.
“I don’t think you can really judge Fabio Wardley off that one fight,” he said. “You take his performances from the last four, five fights, not just from the last fight.”
Victory, over Wardley, may follow for Parker. The pursuit of recognition is guaranteed to, either way.
