Joseph Parker insists he will not follow Justis Huni’s tactical blueprint when he faces Fabio Wardley on October 25 at the O2 Arena in London, as the New Zealander puts his WBO interim heavyweight title on the line in a high-stakes showdown that could determine the next mandatory challenger to Oleksandr Usyk.
Wardley survived a major scare in June when he was outboxed for nine rounds by Huni, only to turn the tables with a stunning 10th-round knockout. The Australian’s performance led many to believe he had exposed Wardley’s vulnerabilities. Yet Parker insists that such assumptions are misguided.
“I am not just going to look at Fabio’s last fight,” Parker said. “Sometimes fighters do just have a bad day in the office. We are looking at the last four or five fights and seeing what he has done. We are not just looking at the last fight and saying, ‘that is the blueprint.’ That fight will probably make him better than what he was.”
Rather than waiting for a guaranteed title shot at Usyk, Parker chose to stay active by taking on the dangerous Brit. “Being out of the ring for that long doesn’t do any fighter any good,” he said. “As soon as I was able to get a fight locked in, I locked it in as soon as I could.”
As for his strategy, Parker believes experience and composure will be key. “The key is just being patient and being dominant,” he explained. “Picking your moments, showing that experience and showing that there are different levels in this game of boxing.”
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Image Credit: Sky Sports