23 unanswered punches in 40 seconds with Parker sagging back towards the ropes looking in bad shape just before the stoppage ? Fair stoppage to me Parker didn't take a knee or clinch it's his own fault he didn't give the referee much to work with.
He did come forward and throw a few shots earlier just before backing in to the ropes, and Wardley landed nothing in the final sequence. It was poor in my opinion
My point of view is that after a 10 week training camp & years of building yourself into a unified eliminator the referee doesn't get to throw the towel in for you. That's the corners job. If Wardley was landing flush rather than flailing with his final couple of flurries then fair enough. If you watch those final few punches he is spent and has no form. How many Chisora fights would have been stopped where he balls up in a corner and takes punishment if the same criteria was applied to British fighters?
Definitely a touch premature but Parker in the minute leading up to the stoppage didnt offer a great deal
I watched it with the sound off. Theres just no sense of danger or even any suspense when you watch it unfold without the sound. Just looks like another ordinary round mostly.
Guess I seen it as a sustained attack after Parker took a few crisp punches....he was rocked and was looking stunned. Post fight interview Parker didnt appear to complain much either
Response to the poll, I don’t think it was either, but voted the 2nd. Parker wasn’t letting Wardley punch himself out, he was gassed himself and was hurt, but I still don’t think Parker took enough clean punches to warrant the ref to stop the fight. Yes, Parker wasn’t throwing much back, but Wardley’s punches weren’t really landing clean.
I think Parker was more tired than hurt. But yes he should have offered more. Wardley was going gang busters, but he was getting sloppy towards the end and I think he was going to punch himself out.
Parker and his team made is easier for Wardley to get the stoppage by allowing Howard Foster to be the referee. In a fight that was always about if Wardley could land that big punch and if Parker could take it and recover that was an oversight. Parker did throw back during the sequence, yes there were a lot of unanswered punches, he should have clinched but he was clearly hurt and was likely fighting on instincts alone and if you are hurt and you haven't drilled clinching into your repertoire then of course it won't happen. I think it was a poor stoppage a really poor stoppage. Parker had been badly hurt a couple of time earlier in the fight and recovered both times, why couldn't he do it again. Also Wardley may have very well ended it, if not then, then later in the fight, he clearly is always dangerous from round 1 to the final bell, Foster simply didn't allow the fight to play out to it's natural conclusion.
