Was Fabio Wardley and Joseph Parker’s heavyweight thriller shelved too early?

fabio wardley pulled one very upset as he beat joseph parker to put himself in line to face the undisputed heavyweight champion on Saturday night oleksandr usyk,

Wardley and Parker fought for 11 rounds before the former Ultimately forced to stop to seal the biggest win of his career,

But the end of the fight was controversial. Referee Howard Foster, who famously officiated Carl Froch’s first fight with George Groves, decided Parker had taken enough punishment and moved on, but some questioned the timing of the stoppage.

So, was it too soon or did Foster realize it?

Let’s take a look at Saturday’s heavyweight thriller to try to answer that question.

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How was the fight played out?

In most heavyweight competitions both men start out cautiously as they are wary of the other man’s power and want to feel their way into the fight.

But Parker and Wardley went straight to work on Saturday. Parker looked in control in the opening round and briefly stunned Wardley just before the bell, but the Briton came out firing in the second round. He hit a big uppercut that hurt Parker and he went in for the kill as he felt it would soon be night. Parker was able to weather the storm, but the tone was set in the first two rounds. This was going to be an all-out war.

kiwi is the best boxing The skill came to the fore several times while gaining the lead on two of the judges’ scorecards, but Wardley was always dangerous.

The two men traded leathers one after the other and delivered some brutal blows. A few punches would have floored most veterans, but Parker and Wardley demonstrated that they have two of the best in the business, as they absorbed any punishment and kept moving forward.

The 10th round was certainly the best of the fight as Parker landed a series of right hooks around Wardley’s guard and it looked like his opponent was in trouble, only for Wardley to catch Parker with his left hook as he was under pressure before the bell rang.

With two rounds left, Parker was winning, but seemed to have little water left in the tank, with the fight hanging in the balance.

What happened in the 11th round?

The final round burst into life just before the midpoint when Wardley caught Parker with a big right hand over the top after landing a jab.

The shot landed flush, and Parker was sent backpedaling towards the ropes as Wardley moved forward to try to deliver a fight-ending punch. He threw everything he had at Parker who was in complete survival mode as he attempted to slide and avoid punches on the ropes.

There wasn’t much coming back from Parker who was clearly in trouble, but Wardley wasn’t getting down with everything by any means. Some punches were hitting the target while others whizzed past Parker’s head as Wardley went into all-out attack mode.

After barely throwing a punch for the best part of 30 seconds, Parker finally pushed the ropes to begin a brief attack of his own. However, he failed to achieve anything notable and Wardley immediately went on the offensive.

He misses with an uppercut before connecting with a left hook. A final right hand missed Parker, but Foster felt the New Zealander had shown enough signs of trouble and ended the fight with just over a minute remaining in the round.

Was Parker still defending himself?

A referee will always instruct both boxers to “protect yourself at all times” before the fight begins. Foster must have been keeping a close eye on this in the 11th round: Was Parker still able to defend himself?

Once Wardley landed his first forceful blow, Parker displayed some worrying body language.

At one point, his upper body lurched forward as he fell down to waist height. It could be argued that this was just a defensive technique, and he was staying down to try to avoid Wardley’s attack, but it could also be interpreted to mean that he was in deep trouble.

Parker tried to push himself forward to give himself some respite, but his attack was short-lived and Wardley was quickly back on top. As Parker was pushed back to the ropes, he looked defensively disorganized and Wardley was landing punches with bad intentions from all angles.

Parker was still defending himself, but he was taking more punishment than in any other phase of the fight and Foster jumped in to stop the proceedings.

Was Parker tired or hurt?

Parker did the bulk of the work in the 10th round as he hurt Wardley briefly before landing several big shots. When the bell rang to end the round, he looked very tired.

The 11th round saw Wardley connect cleanly with a right hand and send Parker back against the ropes. He looked like he was hurt, but was still able to avoid most of the punches coming his way.

The moment his body dropped for a while was not a good sign, and it was also worrying that when Wardley was attacking for his final attack, his defense was visible all over the place. However, rather than being badly hurt, it seemed that Parker was simply exhausted after a grueling battle.

This was supported by his reaction to the stagnation. Parker was clearly frustrated by Foster’s interference and seemed to be conscious of it, but he did not have the energy to argue with the referee for long.

He immediately accepted the decision and went back to his corner and sat on his stool after his devastating loss.

Should Parker have been given more time?

Given how the fight went over the last 10 rounds, Parker has every right to feel that he had to work hard. He had Wardley faltered several times, but Britain was given a chance to get back into the fight each time.

Parker himself was forced to go through some tough moments and was able to do this. He would argue that he would have done the same in the 11th round.

The 33-year-old may also believe he was simply tired rather than seriously injured and could use his experience to force his way into the final four minutes of the fight. He was close to an undisputed title shot against Usyk, but it was taken away from him in brutal fashion.

Parker had always been a classy operator, and he later gave Wardley full credit for keeping his complaints to a minimum. But undoubtedly he will suffer.

Parker will need to show all his mental resilience to recover from the defeat before deciding what to do next after his title-winning dreams were blown to smithereens at the O2 Arena.

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