Parker should have taken a knee against Wardley Round 11

David Adeleye says that Joseph Parker (36-4, 24 ko) should have taken a knee in the 11th round instead of trying to make Fabio Wardley (20-0-1, 19 ko) lost with his shots after he was badly injured in the O2 Arena in London. Parker chose to try to avoid shots, and Wardley was still throwing non-stop, urging referee Howard Foster to stop the fight.

(Credit: Queensberry/Leigh Dawney)

Parker, 33, is not the type to take a knee. He has never done so in his battles, as he has too much pride and would rather harden it. The result is that he lost his WBO interim heavyweight title. Along with him, he is no longer the compulsory WBO for the undoubted Oleksandr Usyk champion. Wardley is the new compulsory WBO, and is the one who will receive a huge payday against USYK in 2026.

It doesn’t have to be the end of Parker. He can come back from a loss, but he will have to stay very busy now so he can climb his way back to his old hedgehog as a compulsory and interim champion WBO. Could take a little time.

“Joseph had no explosives. He has been lifting too much weight,” Derek Chisora ​​told QueensberryGiving his theory on why Joseph Parker lost to Fabio Wardley.

Coming to battle at 262 1/2 lbs was a mistake for Parker. Although powerful in that weight, it was not as fast as Wardley, and he seemed to lose some of his steam in 9-11 rounds.

“Imagine him landing a right hand on usyk. You can’t doubt the guy now,” Hamzah Sheeraz said about Wardley. “He seems to be constantly taking off the worries. When you do that, you become a champion. It sounds crazy now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls off a magical use of usyk. He may because he can beat.

“Joe should have taken a knee there. He was trying to avoid his shots, but Wardley kept them coming,” said heavyweight candidate David Adeleye. “The referee did what he had to do.”