Interim heavyweight champions Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) and Fabio Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) battle tonight in the 12-round main event in front of a large crowd, likely near 20,000 capacity at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Undercard action
Light heavyweight Ezra Taylor (13-0, 9 KOs) pounded out a ninth-round technical knockout of Steed Woodall (20-4-1, 12 KOs). The referee, Mark Bates, halted the contest in the ninth after Woodall’s corner tossed in the towel to pull their fighter out. He’d lost every round of the fight and was getting worked over by Taylor in the ninth at the time of the stoppage.
Super featherweight Royston Barney-Smith (15-0, 7 KOs) had his way with IBF European and WBO European super featherweight champion Danny Quartermaine (13-1-1, 4 KOs), dominating him from start to finish in a lopsided 10-round unanimous decision victory. The scores were 100-88, 98-90, and 100-88. Quartermaine was down in round 10 from a right hook from Royston. In the seventh, the referee, Marcus McDonnell, docked a point from Quartermaine for leading with his head. He’d been doing this throughout the fight. Finally, the referee got tired of it and took a point off.
Lightweight Mitchell Smith (19-1, 9 KOs) trounced Arnie Dawson (8-1, 4 KOs), defeating him by a 10-round unanimous decision in a masterclass performance to capture the vacant WBO European 135-lb title. Smith had the stork-like Dawon down in round one after nailing him with a salvo of heavy shots. Dawson did well to fight back in rounds two through four, landing some good shots, but lacking the pop in his punches to keep the 32-year-old Mitchroom off of him.
The judges’ scores were 96-93, 96-93, and 97-92.
Parker’s WBO interim title will be at stake, while the underdog, Wardley, will have his WBA interim strap on the line. The strap that matters most of the two is the WBO belt, as it comes with the mandatory position to challenge champion Oleksandr Usyk next. Whomever wins the battle tonight will be next for Usyk in 2026.
The more experienced fighter, Parker, is the favorite at -400 odds, while Wardley is the underdog at +300 odds.
Parker-Wardley event times
Tonight’s main card on DAZN PPV starts at 1:30 PM ET / 10:30 AM PT. The Ringwalks are at approximately 5:30 PM ET / 2:30 PT.
In the UK, the main card is at 6:30 PM BST, and the Ringwalks are approximately 10:30 PM.
DAZN main card
Joseph Parker vs Fabio Wardley
Ezra Taylor vs Steed Woodall – Light Heavyweight
Juergen Uldedaj vs Rolly Lambert Fogoum – Vacant IBO Cruiserweight Title
Danny Quartermine vs Royston Barney-Smith – Super Featherweight
Mitchell Smith vs Arnie Dawson – Lightweight
Million-Dollar Paydays Await
*Parker’s WBO interim belt and mandatory is the golden ticket at stake for his fight against the 30-year-old Wardley. With that belt, the winner of tonight’s clash is going to make millions fighting Usyk for his undisputed heavyweight championship in 2026. It’ll be generational-type money.
For tonight’s fight, Parker is expected to earn approximately $3 million, possibly $4 million. Wardley’s purse tonight is a career-high $1 million, potentially hitting $2.2 million (£1.8 million).
Preliminary Card Fights
Hassan Ishaq vs. Jake Pollard
Jimmydean Wood vs. Artjom Spatar
Zayn Ahmed vs. Engel Gomez
Tony Curtis vs. Lakshmy Zaragoza Contreras
George Crotty vs. Bahadur Karami
Anton Esson vs. Jordan Ellison
DAZN PPV Cost
$59.99 for U.S fans.£24.99 for UK.
The live updates and results will be shown here at Boxing247. It’s going to be an interesting event.
