Joseph Parker, Fabio Wardley closing in on Oct. 25 battle of interim heavyweight champions

A battle of interim champions is coming to London.

WBO interim heavyweight champion Joseph Parker and WBA interim titlist Fabio Wardley are finalizing a deal to meet at London’s O2 Arena on Oct. 25, sources close to the situation told Uncrowned.

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New Zealand’s Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) is the mandatory challenger for undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk vs. Parker was ordered just five days after the Ukrainian’s knockout win over Daniel Dubois on July 19, however Usyk’s team subsequently requested an extension due to an alleged injury.

Parker formerly held the WBO heavyweight title from 2016 until he lost it to Anthony Joshua in a March 2018 unification bout. Parker is on a six-fight win streak since his 2022 stoppage loss to Joe Joyce, which includes victories over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole.

Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) captured the WBA interim crown with a sensational come-from-behind 10th-round knockout win over Justis Huni this past June. Huni was miles in front on the scorecards and looked to be well on his way to an upset until Wardley found a single right hand, which ended the contest.

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Prior to beating Huni, Wardley — who has no amateur background and learned his trade on the white-collar scene — knocked out Frazer Clarke in the opening round of a rematch of their 2024 Fight of the Year contender.

Parker and Wardley are both mandatory challengers to Usyk, but with the pair realizing that a shot at Usyk may not be in their immediate future, they have decided to risk their positions against each other.

A pair of eliminators are also targeted for the Oct. 25 card, Uncrowned has learned. The WBO middleweight final eliminator between Denzel Bentley (21-3-1, 17 KOs) and Endry Saavedra (17-1-1, 14 KOs), and a WBC lightweight title eliminator featuring Jadier Herrera (17-0, 15 KOs) and Ricardo Nunez (26-7, 22 KOs) are expected to feature on the show.