Joseph Parker is ready to seal an Oleksandr Usyk opportunity when he faces Fabio Wardley in a big heavyweight clash.
The pair are scheduled to face off on 25 October at the O2 Arena in London for both the WBA and WBO interim heavyweight titles.
Parker has been around the fight game for a long time, facing the likes of Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder during his 39-fight career.
But the former British champion is a different proposition for ‘Big Joe’.
Wardley has been on his own tear in the division, knocking out 18 of his 20 opponents, including a brutal knockout of domestic rival Frazer Clarke and a comeback win over Justis Huni.
Joseph Parker’s three-word response to whether Fabio Wardley has weaknesses ahead of the big heavyweight clash
As fighters like Moses Itauma await their turn at climbing to the top of the heavyweight tree, this bout will serve as an Usyk final eliminator of sorts, with the Tyson Fury fight becoming increasingly unlikely for the Ukrainian.
The two men involved in the clash for heavyweight supremacy are not ones for trash talk; instead, they opt to do their talking inside the ring.
They were asked about each other’s weaknesses ahead of the bout, with the Ipswich fighter highlighting the tough contests of the New Zealander as a potential issue.
He said: “He’s been around for a very long time. He’s had a lot of fights. Some of those have been rough wars. Some of those have been pretty good back and forth. He doesn’t shy away from a scrap.
“So he has got a few miles on the clock. He’s been weighing in pretty heavy and things, so maybe shifting the weight’s becoming a bit of a problem… Who knows? But there are some areas there of his game that can be exploited.”
However, when it came to the response of the WBO mandatory to the comments in the Queensberry interview, it was short and sweet.
“I’ll show you,” he said.
Oleksandr Usyk’s 90-day extension granted as Frank Warren confirms Parker v Wardley winner earns undisputed shot
There has been much made about the next move of Usyk following his win over Daniel Dubois in Wembley Stadium this past July.
He had been ordered to enter negotiations with Parker but had asked for a 90-day extension to enter talks for the fight due to an injury.
While there had been protests from Team Parker, the WBO has now confirmed the extension via their organisation’s account on X.
Frank Warren also confirmed, in an interview with BoxNation, that the winner will have to be next in line to face the undisputed champion.
Warren said: “Because we’re going to ask the organisations to make sure, because the WBO’s next, then it was a WBA that the winner that fights Mr. Usyk, that’s what they’re going to do. So they’re fighting for the right.
“We’re making it ourselves by Usyk’s injury, otherwise we have got to sit around waiting for an interim title fight. So they are two interim champions fighting each other. It’s a cracker of a fight.”
The Hall of Fame promoter has confirmed some undercard fights for the event, including the return of Denzel Bentley after almost a year out of the ring and Lewis Edmondson facing Ezra Taylor in a domestic light heavyweight clash.