ANZAC Attack: How does Fabio Wardley avoid Justis Huni mistakes against Joseph Parker?

Fabio Wardley bids to move himself to the front of the queue for a shot at Oleksandr Usyk and the undisputed heavyweight title when he faces Joseph Parker this month, live on DAZN. 

The WBA interim belt holder heads to London's O2 Arena to face the New Zealander, who also holds an interim strap of his own with the WBO near the division's summit.

Wardley has benefitted from Usyk's decision to delay a mandatory defence against Parker, and has the opportunity to shift up to prime position for a clash with the Ukrainian.

But the star will know that he needs to heed the lessons of a difficult night against Australian Justis Huni in his homecoming bout this June, in a fight that almost spelled disaster.

Down on the scorecards heading into the tenth round, Wardley unloaded a monster hook to stop his opponent in his tracks - but he cannot allow himself to be pinned back again.

Here, DAZN News looks at how he can avoid making the same mistakes he did versus Huni when he takes on a more seasoned foe from the far side of the world once more.

Improve payload frequency

Throughout his fight with Huni, Wardley often seemed to struggle to find a rhythm, and found himself reluctant to move beyond his jab throughout the bulk of the encounter.

This sits in sharp contrast to his opponent, who heavily favoured the power punch approach and found far greater success with them, outlanding in all but one round.

Against Parker - a similar operator who prefers to push for those bigger hits - Wardley will have to find his balance faster and ensure he can match him blow-for-blow.

Endure the distance

Wardley knows how to get a quick knockout - his one-round job on Frazer Clarke in their rematch is testament to this - but he has been known to suffer further down the road.

Save that result, his last three fights have been the longest of his career, between seven rounds and the distance, and with apparent struggles against Huni in the back half.

His crunching blow shows his ace, but against Parker - a man used to long-haul bouts under the bright lights - he will need to ensure he can master composure in deep waters.

Prepare for war

Wardley hasn't faced easy opposition across his rise to the top, but as the man himself observed in their press conference to announce the fight, Parker is a new level of foe.

The New Zealander is an ex-WBO world champion in his own right, and has shown guts in surviving tough encounters before, beating two knockdowns to edge Zhilei Zhang.

He has only lost once by stoppage, against Joe Joyce, and survived the distance with Anthony Joshua and prime-era Dillian Whyte. Wardley must build for a drawn-out contest.

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