Overview
- Wardley, now 20-0-1 with 19 KOs, forced a referee stoppage at 1:54 of round 11 at London’s O2 Arena to win the WBO interim heavyweight belt.
- Promoter Frank Warren says Wardley will face Oleksandr Usyk next for all four titles, though the WBO has not yet issued a formal directive.
- Official scores after 10 rounds were 98-92 and 96-94 for Parker, with the third judge at 95-95.
- Parker said he felt fine and wanted to continue, as discussion mounted over whether referee Howard Foster halted the bout too soon.
- The win makes Wardley the WBO mandatory and reshapes the division after Parker’s resurgence with victories over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole.