Join the Miguel Delaney Inside Football Join the Miguel Delaney Inside newsletter to get exclusive access and unparalleled insight. Football NewsletterJoin the Miguel Delaney inside Football newsletterFabio Wardley put on a career-best performance to beat Joseph Parker and become the mandatory challenger for undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk The inexperienced Wardley entered the fight with the former world champion Parker as the underdog, with questions over his boxing ability and how it would stand up against someone of the Kiwi’s pedigree. Wardley’s best boxing performance was delivered in front of his home crowd, and with the chance to win undisputed glory at stake. He dominated a tired Parker to secure a stoppage victory. But what was so much better about Wardley’s boxing that allowed him to get the better of what was widely considered to be the second-best active heavyweight in the world? The jab The cornerstone of any high-level boxer is the jab – it not only acts as a quick and easy way to score points but also as a way of setting up more dangerous shots to follow it up. The jab allows the fighter to see exactly where his opponent is and how he will react when it is coming. This was something that Wardley had been missing in his game – a pinpoint jab that allows him to more accurately land his powerful punches. He had previously relied on his power and aggression to get past his opponents – but this past weekend, his jab was an excellent asset, which Parker may not have been expecting. open image in galleryJoseph Parker (left) and Fabio Wardley (Steven Paston/PA) (PA Wire)Wardley’s snaking, low left hand allowed him to snap it up at Parker from just below his eye line and took his rival by surprise, who would have been laser-focused on Wardley’s right hand. DAZN is the Global Home of Boxing. Never miss a top promoter’s fight. Buy NowADVERTISEMENT. You will earn commission by signing up for this service. Enjoy 185+ boxing fights per year on DAZN. The Global Home of BoxingNever Miss a Fight from Top Promoters. Watch anywhere and at any time. Buy NowADVERTISEMENT. You will earn a commission when you sign up for this service. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.Possessing the power Wardley does makes his jab more effective, not because the jab is more powerful, but because his opponents will be much more worried about the power coming in from his right hand. He was able to land more jabs and thus be more accurate. Subscribing to DAZN will allow you to watch more than 185 fights per year. Timing and feintsUsing his jab to help him, Wardley became much more accurate. He was able catch Parker on both the counter and the advance. Wardley was able to hit Parker with a number of uppercuts by using his jab, which temporarily blinded Parker’s vision of the approaching fire. This is one of hardest punches in boxing to accurately time. By establishing his range and jab before Parker, it gave him an instant advantage in their exchanges – a great example of this came in the 10th round when Parker threw out a stiff jab and Wardley beautifully slipped and countered with an uppercut that wobbled Parker. Wardley used foot and jab feints as well to get Parker to move backwards and reveal his defensive patterns. This is a telltale sign of an intelligent boxer.By using his jab feints, he would subconsciously register Parker’s slip to the inside of his jab and the next time he would throw a jab or feint, he would follow it up with the uppercut where he knew Parker’s head would be. open image in galleryFabio Wardley’s victory makes him mandatory challenger for the WBO title (Steven Paston/PA) (PA Wire)To exemplify this improvement in accuracy and timing, all we need to do is look at the Compubox punch statistics from the fight. Parker and Wardley’s jabs were almost exactly as accurate as the others, but Wardley’s accuracy with his power punches was 44.2% versus Parker’s 33.5% and Wardley threw nearly 30 more. PhysicalityWardley has always been an imposing figure, even for a heavyweight, standing 6’ 5” and regularly weighing in excess of 240lbs. He has not been one to take advantage of this, instead relying on his explosiveness and speed to defeat his opponents. At the weigh-in for his fight, it was clear that Parker was looking for a big statement, tipping the scales at 262.5 lbs – which would have been a career heaviest had he not weighed 267lbs for his last fight against Martin Bakole. Wardley was 20lbs lighter than Parker at 242lbs but has a large frame which he utilized to his advantage. He didn’t allow Parker to get too close by using his lead forearm to frame Parker, and also his much longer arms to tangle Parker up when he tried to get his work off on the inside. Parker made an effort to push Wardley away in the opening rounds, but Wardley refused to give it up. The Brit stood his ground to avoid initial shots and moved his head to do so. open image in gallery(Queensberry/Leigh Dawney)More defensively soundBefore the fight, Wardley was being criticised for being a very hittable target, based on his last fight with Justis Huni and his first fight with Frazer Clarke. The low left-hand defence and the shoulder-roll defense were areas of concern before fight night. Wardley made Parker miss every time he got close enough to throw. This is not to say he did not take any punishment, because he took plenty, but the shots Wardley was able to make miss, if they had landed, could have drastically changed the course of the fight.Despite his lack of amateur schooling and all-round experience, Wardley displayed an impressive defensive awareness to slip and roll Parker’s shots on the back foot, something he had been noted for struggling with. The shoulder roll defence that was able to take the sting out of a lot of Parker’s overhand rights worked well, with Wardley deploying it to a standard beyond his level of experience. The other side is its effect on Parker. The energy expended by throwing a shot that misses the target is much greater than hitting it, because the shot must travel a longer distance and require a more time-consuming and energy-sapping repositioning to get into position. open image in gallery(Queensberry/Leigh Dawney)This takes effect down the stretch when we saw Wardley take over as Parker began to tire, in part due to the number of shots he was missing the target with.Having the engine to force the stoppage After 11 rounds of throwing the kitchen sink at one another, both Wardley and Parker were exhausted, but Parker was ahead on two of the three judges’ scorecards, and Wardley would have been told he needed to get to work by his corner. That is exactly what he did, and credit must be given to Wardley’s strength and conditioning team, who have turned Wardley into a 12-round fighter. Wardley, with almost no energy left, smashed in almost 40 punches without any response, which would have been an error in the earlier rounds. But seeing that Parker didn’t seem able to keep pace, Wardley pressed on and forced the referee to step in. Wardley, whether or not the stoppage is premature, has found another gear which Parker lacked in the 11th. That’s what any world champ hopeful would need to knock Usyk out. What does this mean in terms of the Oleksandr Usyk match? open image in gallery(Queensberry/Leigh Dawney)If Wardley hopes to stand a chance against the best heavyweight of this generation, he cannot rest on his laurels and be content with the skills he has now, hoping to land one punch to end the fight. Many have tried and failed before him to go into the fight riding on having a puncher’s chance. The ability to maintain a high pace for 12 rounds will be crucial, because Usyk likes to put heavyweights to work early in the fight and then capitalize in the late rounds and middle rounds when they start to tire. Tyson Fury proved in his first bout with Usyk how a jab at range could cause problems to the Ukrainian. Usyk is a harder target for heavyweights to hit because he’s only been hit by two of them flush. Usyk is also a southpaw, which opens Pandora’s box for Wardley, who has only ever faced two southpaws – neither of whom come close to the skill level of Usyk. Open image in galleryUndisputed world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk remains the man to beat (Bradley Collyer/PA) (PA Wire) Wardley will need to be at his best and have developed his skills under Ben Davison to have any chance against the undisputed king. Oleksandr usyk, the undisputed world heavyweight champ, is the man to beat. (Bradley collyer/PA). (PA Wire). Wardley must be at his absolute best to stand a chance of beating the undisputed champion.
2025-10-28 12:00:52
The improvements Fabio Wardley showed to beat Joseph Parker and what they mean for Usyk
