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Parker-Wardley: Five epic heavyweight battles at the O2 Arena
The O2 Arena, since its opening in 2007, has hosted 57 professional boxing events and has become a reliable venue for hosting some of the most memorable fights on British soil.
In that time, it has become a hub for heavyweight action as world champions and hungry challengers ply their trade at the famous venue.
WBO interim heavyweight champion Joseph Parker and WBA interim champion Fabio Wardley will, not for the first time, look to put on a blockbuster show for the fans to decide who takes a spot at the front of the queue to face the undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk.
But what other famous heavyweight dust-ups have blessed the canvas in southeast London?
Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte
In 2015, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte lit up the O2 to decide one of the fiercest British heavyweight rivalries we have ever seen.
Both were young up-and-comers looking to take a step closer to the world heavyweight scene, but their rivalry extended beyond the professional ranks.
Whyte and Joshua had faced off as amateurs, with Whyte emerging as the victor, and that, paired with the genuine dislike between the two, made the fight a fan favourite before the pair even entered the ring.
The fight more than lived up to the venom and vitriol of the build-up as both men set about landing as much leather on their opposite man as possible.
Joshua’s Olympic pedigree and more traditional schooling were on display as he troubled Whyte with heavy straight shots early on – displaying the power that had knocked out all of his opponents thus far.
The fight almost came to a premature end after the second round when Joshua landed after the bell, and a mass brawl erupted in the ring.
Joshua continued to hunt Whyte down and but walked himself onto a counter left hook in the fifth round that hurt Joshua for the first time in his career and added yet more fuel to the raging fire inside the O2 Arena
But Whyte began to fade, and Joshua’s higher-level skillset took over. In round seven, Joshua landed a right hook that took Whyte’s legs. He quickly finished the fight with an uppercut that flattened Whyte and announced himself as a champion in waiting.
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David Haye vs Tony Bellew 2
After an unsatisfying end to their first blockbuster meeting in 2017, David Haye and Tony Bellew packed out the O2 Arena again in 2018 to settle it once and for all.
An ageing Haye ruptured his Achilles tendon in the sixth round of their first fight, which left him vulnerable fighting on one leg, hoping to land the one shot to save him from inevitable defeat.
Bellew smartly exercised patience and waited for the stoppage to come to him in the 11th round when Haye could no longer keep his balance due to the heavy punishment and his inability to defend himself.
But Bellew knew he could beat Haye without the help of an injury and agreed to an immediate rematch to take place once Haye was fully recovered just over a year later.
The genuine hatred and drama the pair had shared for over a year made their rivalry one of the most memorable of the decade.
The second fight promised fireworks, and Bellew delivered.
After a considered start, exchanging jabs and exploratory combinations, the fight burst into life in the third round after Bellew landed a flush left hook and right hand that dropped Haye.
He then dropped him again with a counter right hand on the inside, and Haye looked all but finished at the end of the third.
Bellew’s hand speed and defensive nuance were keeping him safe from an increasingly desperate Haye who struggled to find the target.
Then in the fifth round, as they exchanged explosive combinations, Bellew landed another stunning left hook that would spell the end for Haye who bravely rose to his feet, but was not recovered, and Bellew launched the fight-ending attack that forced the referee to step in and save Haye.
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Joseph Parker vs Dillian Whyte
In 2018, both Dillian Whyte and Joseph Parker were in a career rebuild that saw them come together with both men desperate to get themselves back onto the world scene.
Since his loss to Joshua three years before, Whyte had put together seven wins including victories over Dave Allen, Derek Chisora and Lucas Browne.
Parker had also suffered defeat at the hands of Joshua, forfeiting his WBO heavyweight title only four months before his fight with Whyte and took a big risk in coming back against a bona fide contender.
Both men knew the stakes and put it all on the line to stay in the limelight.
Parker looked the more polished boxer on the night, but Whyte is most dangerous when he is under fire and in the second round, he caught Parker with a lashing left hook, that actually landed with more elbow and shoulder than fist, but it was scored a knockdown and Parker’s back was now against the wall.
He knew he had to start piling the pressure on Whyte and had success through the middle rounds, but perhaps too eager to get close to Whyte, Parker threw a lazy uppercut with his chin high and Whyte landed a flush left hook and dropped Parker again.
The Kiwi recovered well and got back to work but knew that Whyte could not hear the final bell if he wanted to walk away with the win.
Then in the dying embers of the 12th round Parker found the target with a lead right hand that dropped Whyte. He got to his feet and desperately clung to Parker for the remaining 15 seconds and in doing so secured the win via unanimous decision.
Ben Hoskins/Getty Images
Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke
Last year, Wardley and Frazer Clarke, two fighters from vastly different pugilistic backgrounds shared the ring for an instant all-British classic that would skyrocket the profile of both men.
Clarke was an Olympic Bronze medallist with almost 90 amateur fights behind him who was expected to go on and challenge for international honours sooner rather than later.
Fabio Wardley was still something of an unknown quantity, having only had a handful of white-collar bouts and zero amateur experience, he had yet to be tested. But he would more than prove himself on the night.
On fight night as many expected, Clarke’s amateur background gave him an early advantage, able to attack from a variety of angles compared to Wardley’s ruthlessly aggressive albeit one-dimensional attacks.
But Wardley bit down on his gumshield and refused to yield. He relentlessly hunted Clarke, taking punishment to give it, and in doing so, his power advantage began to show.
In the fifth round as Clarke looked to be having a slow round, Wardley pounced and unloaded a flurry of combinations and just as Clarke thought the barrage was over, Wardley landed one final shot that downed the Olympian for the first time in his career.
Clarke did well to recover and pick up where he left off, doing the higher quality work throughout the middle rounds before being deducted a point in the seventh for repeated low blows.
This paired with the knockdown forced Clarke to be more urgent with his work, which brought Wardley, who was battling a gruesome cut on the bridge of his nose, back into the fight.
They fought till the very last second and Clarke literally collapsed into his corner. The judges scored the contest a split-draw and if Clarke had avoided the point deduction he would have won the fight.
James Chance/Getty Images
Joe Joyce vs Derek Chisora
2024 was the year of the all-British heavyweight showdowns at the O2 as Joe Joyce and Derek Chisora threw caution to the wind and knocked lumps out of each other for ten rounds to the delight of the fans inside the venue.
Joyce was amid an attempted career rebuild after back-to-back knockout losses to Zhilei Zhang.
He had bounced back with a tough-looking knockout win over Kash Ali and felt he was ready to get back in there with a name.
The name was Derek Chisora, who had lost four of his last six fights including two fights with Joseph Parker and a bizarre trilogy fight with Tyson Fury.
The overwhelming consensus was that Chisora was one loss away from retiring and Joyce needed a win to stay in any kind of heavyweight conversations.
The fight started as it would finish, with a total disregard for the jab and both men swinging for the fences, looking for a statement win.
It was back and forth action with Chisora playing rope-a-dope hoping to land a wild hook to halt the robotic advance of Joyce who’s primary form of defence was his face.
The fight was on a knife’s edge in the ninth round will little to separate the two desperately swinging at each other before Chisora landed an overhand right that Joyce had walked himself onto and he hit the canvas. This would turn out to be the decisive moment on two of the three judges scorecards.
Chisora won an upset unanimous decision and breathed new life into what was a dying career.
Warren Little/Getty Images
Watch Parker vs. Wardley live on DAZN
Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley fight on Saturday, October 25, to become the WBO mandatory challenger to Oleksandr Usyk. Watch the fight and undercard live and exclusive on DAZN PPV.
