Behind on the Cards, Fabio Wardley Stops Joseph Parker to Win A World Heavyweight Title Shot
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
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Greenwich, UK (October 26th, 2025)– The main event bout between world-ranked heavyweights Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley went according to script entering the tenth round, with Parker having thoroughly outboxed Wardley, now 20-0-1 with 19 knockouts, Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom.
In the featured attraction on a DAZN ten bouts card, co promoted by Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and Platform Sport, at 02 Arena in Greenwich, United Kingdom, on Saturday, October 25, 2025, Wardley, 20-0-1 with 19 knockouts, Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom, came on in the tenth round and then stopped Parker, 36-4 with 24 knockouts, Auckland, New Zealand, at 1:54 of the eleventh round to win a world title shot in 2026 against World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. In the process, Wardley’s world ranking on BoxRec rose to second behind Oleksandr Usyk.
Parker’s left eye was swollen beneath, but his speedy right hands had Wardley fatigued. Wardley’s right-left combinations kept coming in, but his hands were eventually being held too low. When Wardley’s right hand did find the mark, Parker was hurt and could recover.
Just like he went behind on the cards against Justis Huni, Wardley had to come from behind to stop Parker or knock him out. Parker weighed 245 pounds for Deontay Wilder, and 247 pounds for Zhilei Zhang. Parker showed up overweight, weighing 262 pounds, compared to Wardley’s 242 pounds. This meant stamina and maneuverability in the later rounds would ultimately favor the lighter heavyweight Wardley. Parker got hit by a right hand from Wardley in the tenth round and survived the round, but never recovered. Parker was reduced to covering on the ropes, not moving, and taking a vicious beating for several minutes until referee Howard Carter stopped he massacre. It was not so much that Wardley demonstrated power. Much like Muhammad Ali against Larry Holmes, the aging Parker on the ropes in the championship rounds suddenly appeared to be a Rolex watch in façade with the guts missing, a hollow soldier with no heart and no offense, a shell of a beaten man. The bout was one bout too many for Parker, whose heavyweight title dreams appear to have hit the end of the road.
In the preliminary bout to the main event, in a vacant International Boxing Organization World Cruiserweight title contest, IBF International cruiserweight regional titleholder Juergen Uldedaj, 20-1 with eight knockouts, an Albanian fighting out of Magdeburg, Germany, is predicted to win by 12 round unanimous decision over Rolly Lambert Fogoum, a Cameroon fighter out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in an evenly matched contest. Scoring went 120-108, 119-109, 118-110 for Uldedaj, whose worldwide ranking rose to thirteenth in the world among cruiserweights on BoxRec.
Light heavyweight prospect 13-0 Ezra ‘The Cannon’ Taylor of Nottingham stopped 20-4-1 Steed Woodall in the ninth round. a light heavyweight contest. Woodall took this bout on five days’ notice and, though in condition, got outclassed and outworked. Taylor appeared to win every round, and landed harder shots as the bout progressed. Woodall’s corner ended the lopsided bout by throwing in the towel.
Southpaw ‘Sugar Boy Roy’ Royston Barney-Smith, 15-0 with seven knockouts, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom, outpointed Danny Quartermaine, 13-1-1 with four knockouts, Learnington Spa, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, and won the IBF and WBO European Super Featherweight titles. Scoring was 98-90, 100-88, and 100-88 for Barney-Smith. Barney-Smith had a crisp right jab, and conducted a 10-round master class, winning every round. Quatermaine held mostly and had a point deducted for use of the head in the seventh round by referee Marcus McDonnell. Barney-Smith put Quarterpaine down in the tenth round, to seal the win on the cards. In the preview, this report wrote Barney-Smith could stop Quartermaine late if he was hungry, and he almost did. Not a close bout. Both fighters emerged the bout in top condition.
19-1 Middlesex veteran Mitchell Smith, ‘The Baby Faced Assassin’, won by 10-round decision over 8-1 Essex prospect Arne ‘The Terminator’ Smith, and won the vacant WBO European Lightweight contest. Mitchell had Dawson down in the first round and never looked back, winning by scores on 98-91, 98-91, and 96-93, meaning Mitchell won eight rounds on two of the judges’ scorecards.
Super flyweight prospect Tony Curtis, 12-1 with three knockouts, London, United Kingdom, outpointed 3-13-3 Mexican journeyman Lakhsmy Zaragoza Contreras by six rounds decision. Scoring was 60-54 Curtis (no relation to the actor).
Debuting featherweight Zayn Ahmed off London won by his professional debut by a 4-round decision over 9-52-3 Nicaraguan professional journeyman Engles Gomez.
Super welterweight prospect 4 -0 southpaw Jimmydean Wood of Kent won by four-round decision over 5-18-1 Estonian journeyman Artjohn Spartar. Scoring 40-36 for Wood.
2-0 super bantamweight prospect Hassan Ishaq knocked down 1-100 journeyman Jake Pollard, stopping him at 2:14 of the second round. Pollard has four more bouts scheduled in 2025. This was the sixth time Pollard has been stopped in 101 professional contests.
Super middleweight 4-0 southpaw prospect George Crotty of Royston won by a four-round decision over 4-39-4 Bahadur Karami, an Iranian journeyman fighting out of Manchester. Scoring 40-36 for Crotty.
Super lightweight prospect 5-0 Anton Essen of Gloucester won by four-round decision over 15-59-5 ringer Jordan Ellison of Seaham. Ellison lost a hard-fought 10-round decision to Owen Rees for the vacant BBBofC Northern Areas Super Lightweight title last month, making his record deceiving. Referee Bernard Oyet scored the bout 39-37 for Essen, meaning if Ellison had won one more round on the scorecards, the bout would have been a draw.
David Adeleye, Larence Okolie, Daniel Dubois, Agit Kabayel, Moses Itauma, Dereck Chisora, Dillian Whyte, Joe Joyce, Jarrell Miller, and Tyson Fury were among those heavyweights who were in the house. Fury remained in the Joseph Parker dressing room, while some of them took the stage with Warren. “We’re making it happen. We’re seeing the best fighting the best,’ noted promoter Frank Warren, posing with his heavyweights. Dereck Chisora and Dillian White took the stage to propose a possible trilogy bout. Chisora stated “The fight with Dillian will happen in December (2025). This one will be explosive. This one will be better.”
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