Parker v Wardley: ‘Whole division waiting on Oleksandr Usyk’, says Joseph Parker before Fabio Wardley fight

Fabio Wardley said he had no hesitation about taking a fight with Joseph Parker and plans to prove he is a world class heavyweight by knocking out his rival.

The Briton faces Parker on 25 October at London’s O2 Arena, with the winner expected to be Oleksandr Usyk’s next opponent.

Like Parker with the WBO, Wardley is ranked highly by the WBA but decided to take on the New Zealander rather than wait for an injured Usyk to return to action.

“It wasn’t really much of a consideration,” 30-year-old Wardley told BBC Sport.

“I believe I should be in the conversation for those top heavyweights. It’s something maybe the public think needs to be proven.

“But what better way to do that than take on the number two heavyweight in the world in Joseph Parker.”

The heavyweights met at their first news conference on Thursday in London, but there were few fireworks aside from the customary promises of domination and knockouts.

Former world champion Parker, 33, has always been a fan favourite but has reinvented himself in recent years with big wins over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole.

His run was meant to rewarded with a world title shot, but a meeting with then IBF champion Daniel Dubois in February was cancelled in fight week.

Parker, the WBO’s interim champion, then had his shot at Usyk postponed because of an injury to the Ukrainian.

The WBO has granted Usyk a 90-day medical extension to agree terms with Parker, meaning a resolution to whether the undisputed champion fights or vacates his WBO belt may be delayed until December.