When Fabio Wardley met Joshua Parker in the ring, the winner was supposed to provide a clear No. 1 contender for Oleksandr Usyk. Instead, all fans got was a controversial mess as Wardley pulled off the upset with a questionable stoppage.
Controversy or not, Wardley is now the rightful No. 1 contender for Usyk. The undisputed title is the 30-year-old’s clear goal, but he is open to running it back with Parker if necessary.
“I’d happily welcome the rematch,” Wardley said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “It was a fantastic fight. The controversy of the stoppage aside, no one came away from that fight saying it was boring or it wasn’t intriguing. It had ebbs and flows all the way through. It had everything in that sense. We’ll see how this Usyk thing plays out, but I’d be happy to rematch him.”
“I’d happily welcome the rematch. It was a fantastic fight. It was a great fight.
The controversy over the stoppage aside, no one came away from that fight saying it was boring… We’ll see how this Usyk thing plays out, but I’d be happy to rematch him.”@FabioWardley is open… pic.twitter.com/fao8yjJyXm
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 28, 2025
Usyk was initially ordered to defend his title against Parker, but received an extension due to an injury. After Parker signed the bout with Wardley, the WBO mandated that Usyk face the winner in early 2026.
Wardley improved to 20-0-1 with the win while collecting his third consecutive stoppage victory. He entered the fight with the WBA interim heavyweight title and added Parker’s WBO interim title to his collection.
IMAGO / AAP
In an ideal world, Wardley would face Usyk in early 2026. However, with the champion’s unclear injury situation, the heavyweight title picture is anything but transparent.
Wardley would be well within his rights to hold out for the title opportunity, but is willing to rematch Parker due to the latter’s acceptance of the first bout. Wardley acknowledged that Parker did not have to fight him and could have waited for Usyk to heal, hence the fight’s billing as ‘All or Nothing.’
“Joe is a great guy,” Wardley said. “I would like to thank him as well for the opportunity because he didn’t have to take that fight. I think everyone knows that. He’d been on a great run and he was edging his way toward Usyk. Credit to him as a man and as a fighter, as a boxer.”
Usyk has other potential contenders to face in theory. WBA regular heavyweight champion Kubrat Pulev defends his title against Murat Gassiev in December despite being ordered to defend his belt against No. 1 contender Moses Itauma. The winner of that fight could feasibly sneak into a fight with Usyk.
Usyk does not appear able to return until mid-2026, giving Wardley time to rematch Parker if necessary. Either way, one of the two will more than likely be the next undisputed heavyweight title challenger.
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