Surely, even boxing’s “Mr Nice Guy” has a limit. And as Oleksandr Usyk and a world-title fight continue to elude Joseph Parker, he may actually be shuffling towards that limit. Very slowly, very reluctantly, yes – but shuffling nonetheless.
“My goal has been champion of the world, but the goal has changed,” Parker tells The Independent, on a call with other reporters. “Now, I just want to bash everyone in front of me – in a nice way!”
There is the softener, at the end. And while it is reassuring to see the New Zealander maintain composure where others would falter, you couldn’t blame Parker for starting to crack ever so slightly.
As he recalls, his dream of becoming a two-time world heavyweight champion was “taken from us two days before the fight” in February, when Daniel Dubois withdrew from a title defence due to illness. Any frustrations that the usually understanding Parker had, he took out on Dubois’s short-notice replacement, felling boxing’s “most-avoided heavyweight” in just two rounds.
The performance was as close as you will get to seeing a mean streak in Parker. One might infer a certain injustice in what followed. Dubois, despite his withdrawal, got a second unsuccessful crack at Usyk five months later. At the same time, Parker was forced to wait – only for an injured Usyk to withdraw from negotiations with the Kiwi this summer, after being ordered to face Parker.
“The politics of boxing are quite remarkable,” Parker says (Joe, you can use a harsher adjective – we won’t blame you!). “Sometimes, the better you do and the higher you get in boxing, the more those politics take over. I’m not sure why Usyk is waiting for so long. He’s a great champion and has done tremendous things. But for us – not just the fighters at the top but all heavyweights – we want to see a bit more movement with the world titles. So, Usyk: Come on, man! Come on! We need a bit of action.
“No regrets [if the Usyk fight never happens]. If Usyk is available? Great, smash his face. But if hes not available, whoever is in front of me.”
While Parker has been hard done by, it was his decision to risk his spot against Bakole in February, and it was his decision to risk it again on Saturday, when he takes on Fabio Wardley at London’s O2 Arena – defending his WBO interim title against the Briton. Indeed, Parker gave little thought to the prospect of waiting for Dubois or Usyk.
“No, there’s no point holding out,” he tells The Independent, “because if you hold out and this fight doesn’t come, you just wasted all this time. And with family… time goes fast and the kids grow up real fast. Time doesn’t wait for anyone. It’s the same in boxing. I was offered a fight in April, I said ‘yes’, and it didn’t come through. In May, in June, when I was offered all these fights, [I accepted].”
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Wardley said yes back. And so on Saturday, Parker returns to the scene of one of his three professional defeats: the O2, where Dillian Whyte beat Parker in 2018, and where Whyte’s mentee Wardley will try to do the same.
Wardley will enter the fight on the back of a remarkable outing against Justis Huni in June. The Ipswich Town fan, competing at his football team’s stadium, was getting beaten up badly when he suddenly produced a one-punch KO in round 10. With that, Wardley stayed unbeaten, yet certain deficiencies were clear.
Still, Parker advises against judging Wardley on that performance alone.
“I think people are judging him too harshly on that,” Parker says, “because if you look at the other performances… Someone like a Frazer [Clarke] has been in the game for a long, long time as an amateur, and the way that Fabio was able to fight the first fight to the second fight, [he] made his adjustments and put on a devastating knockout in the second fight.”
Indeed, Wardley battled Clarke to a draw at the O2 in March 2024, in one of the fights of the year, only to eviscerate the “Eraser” in the first round of their October rematch. It was a sickening shot that ended proceedings, as Clarke was left with a dent in the side of his head.
That was an enthralling exhibit of Wardley’s power, as was his neutralisation of Huni. “He was getting outboxed, but like they always say: ‘It just takes one punch,’” Parker shrugs. “That’s a big example of a fight that takes one punch to change everything.”
As such, and wisely, Parker insists: “Wardley has my full attention. I’m excited to see what he’ll bring, what shape he is in, how he’s been training. I want to see him face-to-face, to size him up. He has a great team behind him, great belief, and I think it will be a very interesting fight.”
For Parker to seal a fight with undisputed champion Usyk, Saturday may need to be a very specific kind of interesting. But whether it brings a merciless knockout or an attritional brawl, it must deliver a Parker victory.
