Tony Bellew has predicted Joseph Parker vs Fabio Wardley.
Former world champion, Bellew believes Parker’s boxing experience could give him the edge over Wardley.
The pair are set to clash tonight at the O2 Arena, London.
Bellew spoke to Football Blog: “I think Joseph Parker will be too much on the night. Don’t get me wrong, I did say before, of course, Fabio has a puncher’s chance, but believe you me, he won’t be winning at any stage in that fight.”
Wardley was last in action in June at his hometown club’s stadium, Portman Road against the technically skilled Justis Huni.
In a really tough fight for the Brit, he saw himself lose almost every round, outboxed and often pushed back on the ropes.
In the tenth round, Wardley pulled out a trademark right hand, stopping Huni after many had written him off.
Promotor Frank Warren compared Wardley’s knockout power to Deontay Wilder who once dominated the heavyweight division.
Bellew believes Wardley may once again see himself well behind on the scorecards to the more technical Parker.
“He’ll be losing round after round, because Joseph Parker just knows that little bit too much and is that little bit too savvy, in my opinion and I think it’ll be a points victory, possibly even at late stoppage to Joseph Parker, because he punches harder than people think as well.”
Parker has stopped 24 of his opponents, most recently he knocked out heavyweight danger man Martin Bakole on short notice in February.
Since losing to Joe Joyce in 2022, the 36-year-old has turned his career around with big wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang in 2023 were he picked up the WBO interim title.
The New Zealander looked set to get a shot at the undisputed title in July after Oleksandr Usyk stopped Daniel Dubois to pick up all of the heavyweight belts for a second time.
He was ordered as the next mandatory defence for the 38-year-old’s belts, but after an injury was picked up in his last fight, he was granted an extension before negotiations for a fight with Parker had to take place.
Rather than waiting for the extension to conclude Parker returns against the dangerous Wardley as he looks to put himself closer to becoming a two-time world heavyweight champion.
