Wardley is potentially one fight away from becoming undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. This is a guy with no amateur background that just decided to start boxing in his 20s. No BS, built his career legitimately and climbed the ranks. I have never really rated him and pretty much picked him to lose all of his recent fights. I also believe Usyk is way too good for him but he keeps defying the odds. If Wardley finds a way to beat Usyk, this will be one of the greatest stories ever in boxing. Even if Wardley gets beat by Usyk, he is already a winner. He came from nowhere to become an established name in boxing. I wish him the best of luck going forwards.
I give him huge credit for getting this far and so close to fighting the real champ - Usyk. But I'm sure that the Joyce and this Parker fight will catch up with him sooner or later. Both wars will take their toll on his mind and body. It's just a question of when. If I were advising Wardley I would tell him to leave Usyk alone. I haven't seen any evidence that Wardley could defeat Usyk. Wardley should either rematch Parker (hopefully Parker comes in top shape next time), or have some huge domestic stadium fights in the UK against his British heavyweight peers (Joshua, Fury, Chisora, Allen, Ituma) or even Wilder or Makhmudov. .
I agree with what you're saying but I think Wardley has to strike whilst the iron's hot. He may never get another chance to fight for undisputed or even a world title. A loss in a Parker rematch or to another contender would put him at the back of the line.
Why leave Usyk alone? Why not say, i got into boxing late, and i managed to go all the way to a undisputed title shot against one of the greatest we have ever seen. He can get beat by Usyk and still have massive fights, but at least he can say hes been in the ring with a All Time Great and challenged for the undisputed title. And who the F**K knows, Usyk gets old over night, Injures his hand in round 1, the knees crumble during the fight, anything can happen when they get in the ring, gotta be in the ring to give yourself a chance. Why would he avoid Usyk, makes no sense
No reason to avoid Usyk. If you're a heavyweight boxer and you don't want to fight the undisputed champ, you may as well not be boxing at all. It's a once in a lifetime shot at greatness.
This. Ideally I would like Wardley to get more rounds under his belt before fighting someone like Usyk, but like you said he has to grab this opportunity while he can. The Usyk payday along with the chance to be undisputed isn’t an opportunity that comes along everyday.
He is Joyce 2.0. The 2.0 is power. Both started late in pro boxing. Both have Average boxing skills. Joyce ate punches and wares you down. Wardley eat punches and has KO power in both hands for 12 rnds. Sadly eating punches is a short lived career. If he can catch Usyk he goes down as greatness but that is a long long shot.
I agree. I don’t get this avoiding Usyk. You take the chance of fighting the unified and lineal champ when you can. You take the life changing money.
Absolutely spot on, why would someone box their way to the top and say oh no I don't want to fight the champion!
The money from the Usyk fight alone secures Wardleys lifetime. No chance that opportunity is passed on
