The improvements Wardley showed to defeat Parker and what they mean for Usyk

fabio wardley gave a career best performance to defeat joseph parker and became the mandatory challenger to the undisputed heavyweight champion oleksandr usyk

The inexperienced Wardley entered the fight with former world champion Parker as the underdog, with questions raised about his boxing ability and how he would stack up against someone of Kiwi descent.

But in front of the home crowd and with a shot at undisputed glory on the line, Wardley produced his best pure boxing performance to date and defeated a tired Parker late on to earn a stoppage victory.

But what was it about Wardley’s boxing that allowed him to outperform the man considered the second best active heavyweight in the world?

strike

The cornerstone of any high-level boxer is the jab – it’s not only a quick and easy way to score points, but also a way to follow up with more dangerous shots.

This allows a fighter to know where their opponent is in physical space and how they will defend or move when the jab comes towards them.

This was something Wardley was missing in his game – a pinpoint jab that allows him to land his powerful punches more accurately.

He previously relied on his power and aggression to overcome his opponents – but last weekend, his jab was an excellent asset, which Parker was not expecting.

Wardley’s fast, low left hand allowed him to attack Parker from just below his eye line and surprise his opponent, who would have been laser-focused on Wardley’s right hand.

Wardley having power makes his jab more effective, not because the jab is more powerful, but because his opponents will be more concerned about the power coming from his right hand.

He used it very effectively, landing more strikes, which allowed him to time his shots and be more accurate.

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time and show

Due to his good work behind the jab, Wardley was more accurate and was able to catch Parker on the counter and moving forward.

By using his jab to touch Parker and temporarily closing his vision to the incoming fire, Wardley managed to land a number of right uppercuts on Parker, delivering one of the hardest and most accurate punches ever thrown in the entire sport.

By establishing his range and jab in front of Parker, he gained an immediate advantage in their exchanges – a great example of this came in the 10th round when Parker threw a hard jab and Wardley slipped beautifully and countered with an uppercut that staggered Parker.

Wardley also used the jab and foot feints to force Parker onto his back foot and take defensive actions, revealing his pattern to the Briton. This is a clear sign of an intelligent boxer.

Using his jab feint, he would subconsciously register Parker’s slip inside his jab and the next time he threw a jab or feint, he would follow it up with an uppercut where he knew Parker’s head would be.

To exemplify this improvement in accuracy and timing, we simply have to look at the Compubox punch stats from the fight.

Parker and Wardley’s jabs were almost as accurate as the others, but Wardley’s accuracy with his power punches was 44.2%, while Parker’s was 33.5% and Wardley threw about 30 more.

physical

Wardley has always been an imposing figure, even for a heavyweight, standing at 6′ 5″ tall and regularly weighing over 240 pounds.

But he has never been one to take advantage of this, preferring to use his speed and explosiveness to overcome his opponents so far.

At the time of his fight weigh-in, it was clear that Parker was looking to make a big statement, weighing in at 262.5 pounds – which would have been a career heaviest if he had not weighed in at 267 pounds for his last fight. Martin Bakole,

Wardley weighed 20 pounds less at 242 pounds, but he had a larger frame which he used to his advantage.

He did not allow Parker to get too close, using his lead forearm to trap Parker, and he used his longer arms to entangle Parker as he tried to finish his job on the inside.

Parker did his best to force Wardley back in the early rounds, but the Brit did not easily get to the center of the ring and rarely found himself touching the ropes, standing his ground and using his head movement to avoid early shots before taking steps backwards.

more defensive sound

Before the fight, Wardley was being criticized for being a very hittable target, based on his last fight with Justin Hauni and his first fight with him. fraser clarke,

His lower left hand and over-the-shoulder defense were of particular concern before fight night.

But against Parker, Wardley did a great job of making Parker miss when he finally got close enough to throw. That doesn’t mean he didn’t take any punishment, because he took a lot, but the shots Wardley was able to miss could have drastically changed the course of the fight if they had landed.

Despite amateur schooling and a lack of all-round experience, Wardley displayed an impressive defensive awareness, slipping and rolling Parker’s shots off the backfoot, which he was known to struggle with.

The shoulder roll defense, which was able to eliminate many of Parker’s overhand rights, worked well, with Wardley deploying it to a standard beyond his experience level.

But the other side of the coin is that it had an impact on Parker. Throwing a shot and missing expends much more energy than hitting the target, because the shot has to travel a much greater distance and requires a much longer and more energy-consuming reset to get back into position.

This had an impact as we saw Wardley take over as Parker began to tire, in part due to the number of shots he was missing on target.

having the engine forced to stop

After 11 rounds of throwing kitchen sinks at each other, both Wardley and Parker were exhausted, but Parker was ahead on two of the three judges’ scorecards, and Wardley may have been told he needed to work with his corner.

That’s exactly what he did, and credit must be given to Wardley’s strength and conditioning team, who have transformed Wardley into a 12-round fighter.

With almost nothing left in the tank, Wardley dug deep and landed about 40 unanswered punches, which would have been a mistake in the early rounds. But seeing that Parker did not seem to be able to maintain the pace, Wardley applied pressure and forced the referee to step in.

Whether you saw the stoppage ahead of time or not, it’s undeniable that Wardley found another gear that Parker didn’t have in the 11th round, which any world champion candidate needs if they want to topple Usyk.

What does this mean for the Oleksandr Usyk fight?

If Wardley hopes to get a chance against the best heavyweight of this generation, he cannot rest on his laurels and be satisfied with the skills he has while expecting to land one punch to end the fight.

Before that, many people had tried and failed to go into battle on the occasion of Puncture.

Having the fitness to box 12 rounds at speed will be one of the most important aspects of this as Usyk likes to make heavyweights work hard early and take advantage in the middle and late rounds when they start to fade.

It is also important to continue the effectiveness of his jab tyson fury Showed in his first fight with Usyk that a sharp blow from range can cause problems for the Ukrainian.

But Usyk will be a very difficult target to kill, as you can count on two hands the number of times he has been hit by a heavyweight.

Usyk is also a southpaw, which opens a Pandora’s box for Wardley, who has only ever faced two southpaws – neither of whom come close to Usyk’s skill level. Therefore he will have to adapt his defensive skills to that of a left-handed player.

To stand any chance against the undisputed king, Wardley will have to be at his best and further develop the skills he showed on Saturday night under the tutelage of Ben Davison.

But she showed tremendous heart to get the better of Parker and will have a long way to go to finish her fairy tale tale by winning championship gold.

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