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Joseph Parker sees a victory over Fabio Wardley as the gateway to fights against Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma.
The winner of Parker’s October 25 clash with Wardley will be the mandatory challenger for the WBO heavyweight title that Usyk, the undisputed champion, holds.
Usyk would have to fight the Parker-Wardley victor, or vacate that WBO belt.
If Usyk doesn’t take that bout, the winner would then be upgraded to full world champion, with rising star Moses Itauma already the No 1 challenger in the WBO ratings.
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Sky Sports Boxing’s Andy Scott explains what’s next for undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk
“There are a lot of options out there after this fight,” Parker told Sky Sports News.
“But if I don’t get past Fabio Wardley there’s no point talking about any Moses Itauma, any Usyk, anything else.
“But those fights are down the line and those fights are options once I get through this fight.”
However he added: “All my focus is on Fabio Wardley. He deserves to be respected, the position that he’s in, being No 1 with the WBA and he deserves my full attention.”
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Joseph Parker has challenged the undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk to face him with his unique rendition of ‘Take on Me’. Footage courtesy of IG: @kerryrusselltv
Wardley showed how dangerous he could be in his last fight, against Justis Huni, when languishing on the cards he still managed to unearth a one-punch finish in their 10th round.
“He was able to land just a clean, nice right hand on Justis Huni,” Parker said. “You can’t even switch off for a second, otherwise you’re going to get caught and it’s game over.
“If I slip and don’t have that focus throughout every second of every minute of every round, he can catch me as well.”
But Parker is adamant that he is a more severe threat to Wardley.
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Following his stunning knockout victory against Daniel Dubois, Oleksandr Usyk jokingly brushed off Joseph Parker’s suggestion of a fight between the pair in the future
“I think any heavyweight can put someone else’s light out. But going into this fight, I do believe there’s levels in this sport and I’ve been in this game for a long time and grateful to have been in this game for a long time and still operate at the highest level and it’ll be nice to see what kind of challenges he’s going to bring,” Parker said.
“I’m going to be a lot more agile [with] a lot more speed, a lot more movement and pick the shots where I can land in a way that’s important.
“I feel like it’s going to be a night filled with power, speed, drama.”
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