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Parker or Wardley - DAZN News experts give their predictions for huge heavyweight showdown
So here we are, fight night! A night that will determine who will be the next fighter to challenge and try to finally beat one of the greatest of all time - Oleksandr Usyk .
Tonight - Saturday, October 25 - sees Joseph Parker - the WBO interim heavyweight champion - and Fabio Wardley - the WBA interim heavyweight holder - square off in London, England, live and exclusive on DAZN PPV .
New Zealander Parker, 36-3 (24 KO's), is already a former world champion and at 33-years-old brings much more experience and ring intelligence to the contest - he can also bang.
Brit Wardley, 19-0-1 (18 KO's), has never fought at this level before in his young career, but his impressive rapid rise has demonstrated his talent, his heart, and his brutal knockout power.
It is an intriguing fight, where styles should make a great contest, but who will come out victorious? The DAZN News team have casted their verdicts.
Chris Walker - Senior boxing writer
The savvy veteran against the relentless puncher pits experience against freshness, and even though there is only three years between the fighters, Parker has been operating at a higher level for a much longer time.
His recent wins against Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang, and Martin Bakole have the boxing community rightfully demanding a showdown against Oleksandr Usyk, but with some more scrutiny, you can still find some minor flaws in all those victories.
Wardley will likely not fail to pull the trigger like Wilder. He will likely follow up on a distressed Parker the way Zhang didn’t or couldn’t, and unlike Bakole, he has more than 48 hours to be in the best condition for the biggest fight of his life.
Parker, one of boxing’s good guys, has enjoyed a remarkable run since losing to Joe Joyce in 2022, but Wardley’s pressuring style, combined with his explosive power, gives him a huge chance in a contest where Parker could easily run away with it.
Expect Parker to start fast and build up a commanding lead, but there will be a point when he is caught by Wardley and the Ipswich man can capitalise to secure the biggest win of his career.
Matt Astbury - Boxing writer
Looking at this fight from a boxing point of view, Joseph Parker should win.
He has more experience at the top level and amateur experience, therefore a better boxing pedigree than Fabio Wardley. However, the knockout punch out of nowhere against Justis Huni proved that Wardley is a serious threat.
Unfortunately, I think Parker’s boxing ability will be too much. Compared to Frazer Clarke and Huni, Parker will know when to avoid getting drawn into a firefight, and with his much-improved conditioning, I expect him to have Wardley chasing him around the ring while landing the cleaner punches to get the win on the judges’ scorecards.
How can I watch Joseph Parker vs Fabio Wardley on DAZN PPV?
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Andrew Steel - Boxing writer
The odds have Joseph Parker for the win - and truth be told, it seems hard to look past the New Zealander and his mileage when it comes to this bout.
Fabio Wardley is a smarter boxer than people give him credit for, and he will have learned the lessons from his tough night at the office with Justis Huni.
But in Parker, he meets one of the most durable and seasoned operators in the business, a man who has developed an ability to thrive on the grind.
He was arguably unfancied against Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang, and even with his trips to the canvas, has shown the aptitude to rise and return.
Make no mistake, Wardley has the tools to make life very difficult. But Parker has done the hard yards with tougher foes so far and should prevail here.
Chris Oliver - Boxing writer
Joseph Parker is an overwhelming favourite to beat Fabio Wardley, and rightly so on what the pair have achieved so far.
Parker is a former world champion who has mixed in much better company and while he has come up short on three occasions, they were all against in-form opponents and he arrives here on the back of six straight wins.
Wardley, on the other hand, is taking a notable step up in class, having been outboxed by Justis Huni before landing a one-punch knockout blow on the Australian's chin to claim victory from the jaws of defeat in June.
Having stopped all but one of the opponents he has faced so far, that famous power is Wardley's key to victory again and Parker has been dropped plenty of times before.
However, Parker has always shown excellent powers of recovery and, now in the form of his life, I believe his experience will prove too much for Wardley, who could be worn down somewhere in the final third of this twelve-rounder.
Watch Parker vs. Wardley live only on DAZN
Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley fight this Saturday, October 25, to become the WBO mandatory challenger to Oleksandr Usyk. Watch the fight and undercard live and exclusive on DAZN PPV.
