Eddie Hearn says he’s impressed with the improvements that heavyweight Fabio Wardley has made in his game recently. He stated that he’s expected Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) to lose his last four fights, but he surprised him by going 4-0 and knocking out Joseph Parker in the 11th round on October 25th. He admits that he didn’t believe Wardley was “world class.”
Hearn says he thinks the referee, Howard Foster, halted the fight “early” in round 11, when Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) had Parker trapped against the ropes. Still, he can understand why the fight was stopped because Fabio had thrown 30 to 40 punches, and Parker wasn’t throwing anything back.
Hearn’s Honest Admission
“The last four fights, I’ve expected Fabio to come unstuck because I never truly believed he was a world-class heavyweight,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social. “With Fabio, I thought his ceiling was a British title. He’s always dangerous early. I think he’s really improved as a fighter.”
The Turning Point: Clarke Rematch
Wardley made vast improvements after his first fight against Frazer Clarke on March 31, 2024. In their rematch, Wardley obliterated Clarke in a first-round knockout on October 12, 2024.
A Fighter Who Keeps Surprising
It was a completely different Fabio for that fight. In Wardley’s next fight, earlier this year, against Justis Huni on June 7th, he struggled with the skills of the Australian fighter. But in the 10th, he blasted him out with a single right hand.
“To me, it was early, but when you’re being rained down on by 30 or 40 punches in a combination and you’re not throwing back and you’re not holding,” said Hearn when asked about his thoughts on Wardley’s 11th-round TKO victory over Joseph Parker on October 25th.
There was no chance that Parker was going to last the final minute of the round in his condition. It was a miracle that he made it out of the 10th round. But when he came out for the 11th, he had nothing left and was too hurt to throw anything back. All he could do was try to dodge punches against the ropes.
“In the moment when you’re hurt, and he [Parker] was clearly hurt and Fabio is just unloading, what point is enough enough? I didn’t think it was a disgraceful stoppage, but I thought Parker was okay to carry on at that point. But if you’re not firing back, and you’re not holding, and you’re just sitting on the ropes,” said Hearn.
It wasn’t just that Parker was sitting on the ropes. He was getting pummeled from the start of the round by Wardley when he was in the center of the ring. That forced him to one side of the ring to the other.
Referee Foster’s Call
During all that time, he only landed two punches during two minutes of action. The referee, Howard Foster, obviously was going to let Wardley tee off on a fighter that was incapable of throwing anything back. So, he did the only thing he could to save him by halting the contest.
