Joseph Parker sees a win over Fabio Wardley as the gateway to a fight against Oleksandr Usyk and Musa Itauma.
The winner of Parker’s bout with Wardley on October 25 will be the mandatory challenger to the WBO heavyweight title held by Usyk, the undisputed champion.
Usyk will have to fight the Parker-Wardley victor, or vacate the WBO belt.
If Usyk does not fight this bout, the winner will then be promoted to full world champion, with rising star Moses Itauma already the No. 1 contender in the WBO rankings.
“There are a lot of options available after this fight,” Parker said. Sky Sports News.
“But if I don’t get past Fabio Wardley, there’s no point in talking about any Moses Etuma, Usyk, or anything else.
“But those battles are at stake and those battles are options once you get through this battle.”
But he added: “All my focus is on Fabio Wardley. He deserves respect, and the position he holds, being No. 1 in the WBA, deserves my full attention.”
Wardley showed how dangerous he is in his last fight, against Justis Honey, when he was down on the cards, managing to pull off a one-punch takedown in the 10th round.
“He was able to land a nice, clean right hand on Justise Honey,” Parker said. “You can’t even stop working for a second, otherwise you’ll get caught and it’s game over.
“If I slip and don’t have that focus for every second of every minute of every round, he can catch me too.”
But Parker insists he poses a more serious threat to Wardley.
“I think any heavyweight can put out someone else’s light,” Parker said. “But going into this fight, I think there are levels in this sport and I’ve been in this game for a long time and I’m grateful to be in this game for a long time and still be operating at the highest level and it’ll be good to see what kind of challenges he’ll bring.”
“I’m going to be a lot more flexible (with) a lot more speed, a lot more movement, and I’m going to pick shots where I can land in a significant way.
“I feel like it’s going to be a night full of power, speed and drama.”
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