By: Sean Crose
It’s a good time to be Fabio Wardley. Less than a week after his stunning upset of Joseph Parker in England, the heavyweight contender is in talks to face none other than divisional kingpin Oleksandr Usyk. “At the moment, the deal is Usyk has to defend his WBO title against Fabio” says Frank Warren;. “We’re in negotiations.” Indeed, Wardley’s promoter seems to be taking the matter quite seriously. And after last Saturday’s performance, perhaps he should.
“If we can’t agree terms,” Warren continued (via talkSPORT), “it’ll go to purse bids….whoever wins the purse bids will determine where that fight takes place, and the date and contracts will have to be signed. And then,” he continued, “Mr Usyk will either sign it or he won’t.” With that being said, Warren isn’t going to spiral emotionally if a fight with Usyk doesn’t come to fruition at this point. “If he signs it,” he said, “we’ve got a fight and if he doesn’t Fabio will become the champion, and he’ll fight somebody else.”
For those who didn’t see the fight last weekend, Yardley put on a brilliant and gutsy performance. His opponent, Joseph Parker was a former world titleist. Not only that, he was expected to possibly face Usyk. Furthermore, he was considered a man who might actually have a good chance against the heavyweight ruler. In the 11th round, however, Yardley put an end to all talk of a Parker fight with Usyk. After stopping his man late in the fight, Wardley found himself being mentioned as a challenger for Usyk’s crown. The reality of the situation, however, is Usyk is likely an all-time great heavyweight while Wardley is still a man on the way up. Would a battle with Usyk proved to be too much too soon? Or would Wardley defeat Usyk in a case of youth besting experience?
Without doubt, people especially in England would love to find out the answer. Warren is probably right when he brings up the fact (via talkSPORT) that his fighter is enormously popular and that a fight between Usyk and Yardley could sell out Wembley. The very fact that Warren seems willing and eager to have his fighter face Usyk shows just how confident the veteran promoter is with Wardley. After last weekend, perhaps he has good reason to be. No matter how things turn out, there’s no denying that Yardley is now the face of a new generation of heavyweights one that will likely be around and perhaps even dominate for some time to come.
