recording a positive doping test<\/a>, while rising Briton Fabio Wardley is set to be upgraded to WBO champion after Oleksandr Usyk announced he was relinquishing the belt.<\/p>\nWardley upset Parker when the pair fought in Manchester last month – a fight the Kiwi didn’t have to take as he was next in line to challenge Ukrainian Usyk for his multiple belts.<\/p>\n
The result plunged Parker down the pecking order, but worse was to come last week when it was announced the 33-year-old tested positive to a prohibited substance – which media reports in the UK say was traces of cocaine – on the day of the Wardley fight.<\/p>\n
![\"Joseph](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4JYYHP5_JPFW0251_jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nJoseph Parker after his loss to Briton Fabio Wardley.
\nPhoto: photosport\n<\/p>\n
Faced with the possibility of a boxing ban, Parker has hit back, refuting that he did anything wrong.<\/p>\n
He said he will work with the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association and British authorities to clear his name.<\/p>\n
WBO announcement<\/p>\n
Reuters reported Usyk announced on Tuesday he would not proceed with a mandatory defence against Wardley, according to the WBO.<\/p>\n
The WBO said it received “formal communication” from the Ukrainian’s team and confirmed the 38-year-old had “elected to relinquish the title after thoughtful consideration.”<\/p>\n
Wardley, 30, is expected to be elevated to WBO heavyweight champion following Usyk’s decision, according to Sky Sports.<\/p>\n
Usyk holds the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles, having regained the latter belt in December when he stopped Britain’s Daniel Dubois to restore his undisputed status.<\/p>\n
![\"Ukraine's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0000NAN_000_34T82AL_1_jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nUkraine’s Oleksandr Usyk celebrates his victory over Britain’s Tyson Fury during a heavyweight boxing world championship fight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
\nPhoto: FAYEZ NURELDINE \/ AFP\n<\/p>\n
He first became four-belt undisputed champion in May 2024 by beating Tyson Fury, before vacating the IBF crown the following month due to mandatory obligations linked to a rematch.<\/p>\n
Usyk tributes<\/p>\n
WBO president Gustavo Olivieri paid tribute to Usyk in an emotional statement, calling him “a champion of champions”.<\/p>\n
“The WBO extends its profound respect, admiration, and gratitude to Oleksandr Usyk, an undefeated, two-division WBO undisputed world champion,” Olivieri said.<\/p>\n
“His career stands as one of the most extraordinary and historic of the modern boxing era.”<\/p>\n
The WBO added that Usyk had exemplified “every right, privilege and honour associated with the WBO Super Champion distinction”.<\/p>\n
“We accept and respect his decision to relinquish the WBO heavyweight super championship,” it said.<\/p>\n
“This is not a farewell but – as expressed by his team – a respectful pause. The doors of the WBO will always remain open to Oleksandr Usyk and his team.”<\/p>\n
Usyk won the WBO belt in 2021 when he defeated Anthony Joshua, later adding the WBC title by beating Fury. He defended the WBO crown four times during his reign.<\/p>\n
![\"Both](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/4JZ32AO_JPFB9481_1_JPG\")
<\/p>\n
\nBoth have been respectful when talking about the fight, but both men said it will be a different story when the bell rings on Sunday morning
\nPhoto: Photosport\n<\/p>\n
In July, the WBO ordered negotiations for a mandatory defence against its interim champion Parker, giving both camps 30 days to reach a deal before a purse bid.<\/p>\n
Parker, who won the interim title last year against Zhilei Zhang and retained it in February by stopping Martin Bakole, remained the organisation’s official challenger at the time.<\/p>\n
– Reuters, with additional reporting by RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fabio Wardley TKOs Joseph Parker. Photo: Richard Pelham\/Getty Images Under a different set of circumstances, New Zealand heavyweight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,1590,63,802,1589,44,1591,1588,1586,1587,85],"class_list":["post-291739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-audio","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-current-affairs","tag-news","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}