Was Fabio Wardley and Joseph Parker’s heavyweight thriller stopped too early?

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Your assist makes all of the distinction. Learn extra Fabio Wardley pulled off a serious upset as he beat Joseph Parker on Saturday evening to place himself in line to face undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Wardley and Parker battled for 11 rounds earlier than the previous lastly compelled a stoppage to seal the largest victory of his profession.

However the ending to the battle was controversial. Referee Howard Foster, who famously waved off Carl Froch’s first battle with George Groves, determined Parker had taken sufficient punishment and stepped in, however some have questioned the timing of the stoppage.

So, was it too early or did Foster get it spot on?

Let’s look again at Saturday’s heavyweight thriller to try to reply that query.

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How had the battle performed out?

Most heavyweight contests see each males begin cautiously as they're cautious of the opposite man’s energy and need to really feel their manner into the battle.

However Parker and Wardley acquired straight all the way down to work on Saturday. Parker seemed in management within the opening spherical and appeared to briefly stun Wardley simply earlier than the bell, however the Brit got here out firing within the second. He landed a giant uppercut that harm Parker and went in for the kill as he sensed an early evening was on the playing cards. Parker managed to journey the storm, however the tone had been set within the opening two rounds. It was going to be a toe-to-toe warfare.

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/26/01/db5eacbb9e20d25235f1347d9568ec42Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzYxNTI1NDM2-2.82154422.jpg" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/26/01/db5eacbb9e20d25235f1347d9568ec42Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzYxNTI1NDM2-2.82154422.jpg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/26/01/db5eacbb9e20d25235f1347d9568ec42Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzYxNTI1NDM2-2.82154422.jpg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="Fabio Wardley is keen to fight Oleksandr Usyk (Steven Paston/PA)" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

Fabio Wardley is eager to battle Oleksandr Usyk (Steven Paston/PA) (PA Wire) The Kiwi’s superior boxing abilities got here to the fore at occasions as he constructed a lead on two of the judges’ scorecards, however Wardley was at all times harmful.

The 2 males traded leather-based spherical after spherical and landed some brutal blows. Among the punches would have put most heavyweights down however Parker and Wardley demonstrated that they've two of one of the best chins within the enterprise as they shook off any punishment and stored marching forwards.

The tenth spherical was arguably one of the best of the battle as Parker landed a sequence of proper hooks across the facet of Wardley’s guard and appeared to have his opponent in hassle, just for Wardley to catch Parker along with his personal left hook as he piled on the stress earlier than the bell rang.

With two rounds to go, Parker was successful however appeared to have much less left within the tank, leaving the battle firmly within the stability.

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What occurred within the eleventh spherical?

The penultimate spherical exploded into life simply earlier than the halfway level when Wardley caught Parker with a giant proper hand excessive after feinting to throw a jab.

The shot landed flush, and Parker was despatched backpedalling in direction of the ropes as Wardley rushed ahead to try to ship a fight-ending punch. He threw every part at Parker who was in pure survival mode as he tried to slide and dodge punches on the ropes.

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(Queensberry/Leigh Dawney) There was not rather a lot getting back from Parker who was clearly in hassle, however Wardley was not touchdown with every part by any means. Some punches had been grazing the goal whereas others whistled previous Parker’s head as Wardley went into all-out assault mode.

Having hardly thrown a punch for one of the best a part of 30 seconds, Parker lastly pushed off the ropes to launch a short assault of his personal. Nonetheless, he did not land something of word and Wardley shortly went again on the offensive.

He simply missed with an uppercut earlier than connecting with a left hook. One ultimate proper hand missed Parker, however Foster felt the New Zealander had proven sufficient indicators of misery and introduced the battle to an finish with simply over a minute of the spherical to go.

Was Parker nonetheless defending himself?

A referee will at all times utter the directions “defend yourselves always” to each boxers earlier than a battle begins. That is what Foster would have been maintaining a detailed eye on within the eleventh spherical: was Parker nonetheless in a position to defend himself?

As soon as Wardley had landed his preliminary thunderous blow, there was some regarding physique language displayed by Parker.

At one level, his higher physique slumped forwards as he dipped all the way down to waist peak. It could possibly be argued that this was only a defensive approach, and he was maintaining low to try to keep away from Wardley’s barrage, however it might even be interpreted that he was in serious trouble.

Parker tried to launch himself forwards to provide himself some respite, however his assault was a short-lived one and Wardley shortly acquired again on prime. As Parker was pushed again to the ropes, he seemed defensively disorganised and Wardley was throwing punches with unhealthy intentions from all angles.

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/26/00/a13cc2ee92dd0fd833924991453f59bbY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzYxNTIwNDQ5-2.82154163.jpg" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/26/00/a13cc2ee92dd0fd833924991453f59bbY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzYxNTIwNDQ5-2.82154163.jpg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/10/26/00/a13cc2ee92dd0fd833924991453f59bbY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzYxNTIwNDQ5-2.82154163.jpg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="Joseph Parker (left) and Fabio Wardley (Steven Paston/PA)" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

Joseph Parker (left) and Fabio Wardley (Steven Paston/PA) (PA Wire) Parker was nonetheless defending himself, however he was delivery extra punishment than at some other stage within the battle and Foster jumped in to name a halt to proceedings.

Was Parker drained or harm?

Parker had put rather a lot into the tenth spherical as he briefly harm Wardley earlier than getting caught himself by a number of massive pictures. When the bell rang for the top of the spherical, he seemed very drained.

The eleventh spherical then noticed Wardley join cleanly with a proper hand and Parker retreated to the ropes. It appeared clear he was harm, however he was nonetheless in a position to keep away from a lot of the follow-up punches that got here his manner.

The second that his physique briefly slumped was not a great signal, and it was additionally worrying that his defence appeared in every single place as Wardley charged in for his ultimate assault. Nonetheless, relatively than being badly harm it gave the impression to be that Parker was merely exhausted after a gruelling back-and-forth battle.

This was backed up by his response to the stoppage. Parker was visibly annoyed by Foster stepping in and appeared to have his wits about him, however he didn't have the vitality to argue with the referee for lengthy.

He shortly accepted the choice as he walked again to his nook and sat on his stool following his devastating loss.

Ought to Parker have been given extra time?

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(Queensberry/Leigh Dawney) Given how the battle had performed out over the earlier 10 rounds, Parker has each proper to really feel laborious accomplished by. He had wobbled Wardley a number of occasions, however the Brit was given the prospect to get again into the battle each time.

Parker himself had been compelled to return by means of some tough moments and had been in a position to take action. He'll argue that he would have accomplished the identical within the eleventh spherical.

The 33-year-old can also imagine he was merely fatigued relatively than considerably harm and that he may have used his expertise to navigate his manner by means of the ultimate 4 minutes of the battle. He was inside touching distance of an undisputed title shot in opposition to Usyk, however that was ripped away from him in brutal style.

Parker has at all times been an aesthetic operator, and he gave full credit score to Wardley whereas maintaining his complaints to a minimal within the aftermath. However he'll undoubtedly be hurting.

Parker might want to present all of his psychological resilience to return to phrases with the way of the defeat earlier than deciding what he desires to do subsequent after his title goals went up in smoke at a raucous O2 Enviornment.

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