From Office Desk To Knockouts: Fabio Wardley’s Usyk Mission

Former white collar, 9-5 office worker, Fabio Wardley, believes he’s going to be the “next one” to challenge Oleksandr Usyk for his heavyweight undisputed championship by defeating Joseph Parker this Saturday, October 25th, at the O2 Arena in London.

Sounding more like a high-level executive in the business sector when he speaks, Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) isn’t impressed by the experience advantage the 13-year pro Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) holds over him.

No Blueprint, Just Instinct

The former recruitment consultant (head-hunter) Wardley was a late starter in boxing, beginning in 2020 in London. His natural power made the transition easier than it should have been. But also, his intelligence helped him catch up to fighters who had been fighting for many years.

WBA interim heavyweight champion Wardley told Queensberry that his power “speaks for itself.” He believes that if he nails Parker “half clean,” he can hurt him and drop him “Once, twice, two, three, four times.”

Parker-Wardley are headlining on DAZN PPV in an event priced at $59.99. That price-point is still jarring for many fans in the U.S, less so in the UK, where it’s priced at £24.99 on DAZN PPV. The event would be more appealing to American boxing fans if the cost were less. The $20 range would have worked for the U.S. crowd.

When asked about his thoughts on Parker’s recent victories over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang, and Martin Bakole, Wardley dismissed his achievement, saying, “I believe I’d have knocked him out.”

With Wardley’s punching power, he would have had an excellent chance of knocking out those three aging veterans. Brought in as a late replacement opponent, Bakole weighed in at an obese 310 lbs for his fight with Parker earlier this year on February 22nd for their undercard clash on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 event in Riyadh. 

Parker’s Experience? Overrated

Wardley states that Parker’s experience “can’t save you in the ring” because it won’t provide him with “an extra boost of energy” to make him “punch harder” or “quicker.” That’s assuming that Parker will try to engage with Wardley, because he may choose to box and move for 12 rounds. He did that in his fights against Zhang and Wilder. He fought like a heavyweight version of Shakur Stevenson. It was very boring to watch for many fans, but effective.

Fabio believes that his “unpredictable” fighting style will give him an advantage because it’s not typically seen in fighters with an amateur background in the sport. While learning on the job, Wardley says that his team didn’t try to “box me into a certain style” to make him into something. Instead, they allowed Wardley to use his “natural” style but taught him the basics of what he needed to succeed.