Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley are set to meet in the ring late next month and Eddie Hearn has had his say.
Hearn, who has promoted both men, credited Wardley’s rise ahead of showdown with Parker on October 25 at the O2 Arena, live on DAZN pay-per-view.
Wardley was last in action where he defeated Hearn’s fighter Justis Huni in round 10 of their clash in June.
The Australian was dominating the Ipswich man on most people’s cards before getting brutally stopped.
Wardley’s rise in boxing has been pretty incredible, coming from a white-collar background with no ammeter experience to now facing former world champion, Parker.
“Yeah I think it’s a huge jump up for Wardley, who by the way deserves a massive amount of credit,” Hearn told Sky Sports.
“We all know the story is a bit boring now about the white collar background and no amateur experience, but he has gone through the ranks.
“People say he was lucky against Justis Huni, but I don’t think you can ever be lucky when you knock someone out, but he was getting well beaten and was four, five minutes away from losing a lopsided decision.”
For Parker he looked set to face Oleksandr Usyk for his belts after a fantastic run in the last 18-24 months.
The New Zealander has beaten Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and most recently stopping heavyweight danger man – Martin Bakole in the second round in February.
Parker spoke to Pro Boxing Fans where he expressed his frustration waiting for a world title shot with the Usyk fight failing to materialise and his opportunity to challenge Daniel Dubois for his IBF world title being shelved on fight week.
With Usyk being granted a 90 day extension until he has to negotiate a defence of his WBO belt. the fight with the Ukrainian next seemed unlikely.
The 33-year-old offers Wardley his first test against world level opposition but Hearn refused to count the Brit out of the fight.
“But he carries great power.
“He knocked out Frazer Clarke in a round.
“This is a different kind of step up against a guy with massive experience and massive form, but Fabio has big cojones, and he will be live in all fights because he’s not afraid to let his hands go.
“I do think, and I like Fabio a lot, but I always try to be honest in a lot of these analyses, I think it’s a step too far for him in the form that Joseph’s in. But he’s definitely live in the fight.”
A win for either man seems to be an inevitable path to Usyk’s WBO world title either as a mandatory challenger or being elevated to full champion if the Ukrainian chooses to vacate the belt.
