Ex-Deontay Wilder rival reveals what Fabio Wardley must do to shock Joseph Parker

Former two-time heavyweight title challenger Chris Arreola has delivered his verdict on how Fabio Wardley can secure an upset win over Joseph Parker on Saturday night.

Wardley and Parker are due to meet at the O2 Arena, and the winner will be in line to face undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk next.

Parker is the favourite with the bookmakers due to his greater experience and fighting at a higher level, but he has been dropped in the past by Dillian Whyte and Zhilei Zhang, while he was knocked out by Joe Joyce in 2022.

All but one of Wardley’s professional wins have come inside the distance, and Arreola, who lost to Deontay Wilder in 2016, believes the Brit must push for a finish if he gets Parker in trouble. However, he warned Wardley that he cannot get reckless or he will be at risk of walking on to big shots from Parker.

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Asked what happens if Wardley hurts Parker, Arreola told Inside The Ring: “He’d better finish him. If he hurts him, he’d better finish him because, like you said, Parker does have that muscle memory that he could easily just counterpunch and give it right back to him.

“If Fabio Wardley drops him, he has to jump on him, but he’d better do it smart.”

Parker recovered from two knockdowns to beat Zhang last year as he displayed admirable resilience.

He also finished strongly against Whyte back in 2018, sending his rival to the canvas in the final round as he narrowly missed out on earning a come-from-behind knockout win.

But Wardley has shown his ruthless streak in his last two outings, demolishing Frazer Clarke inside a round in their rematch last October.

He then needed just one huge right hand to stop Justis Huni in June, which set up a fight with Parker.

The 30-year-old Brit will be hoping his power comes to the fore again this weekend as he bids to leapfrog Parker in the pecking order for a shot at Usyk.

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