Oleksandr Usyk has answered every question asked of him so far.
An Olympic gold medallist at London 2012, he dominated the cruiserweight division where he won every major world title, going undisputed in the final of the World Boxing Super Series.
At heavyweight he’s beaten Tyson Fury twice, Anthony Joshua twice and Daniel Dubois twice – and gone undisputed there, twice.
He’s never lost a professional fight.
But Joseph Parker has emerged as the mandatory challenger for Usyk’s WBO title. If the New Zealander beats Fabio Wardley when they box this weekend at the O2 Arena, Usyk will have to face Parker if he is to retain his undisputed heavyweight world championship status.
“If he doesn’t fight Parker I’d argue that he hasn’t faced all of the best of the era,” David Higgins, Parker’s promoter, told Sky Sports.
“For the perfect resume he needs the Parker fight. I’m sure he backs himself to beat anyone on earth, including Parker. Of course he does, any boxer at this level does need to have that mindset. Parker would back himself to beat Usyk. So it would be a wonderful match-up if it happens.”
Higgins is now confident that it will happen, as long as Parker is victorious over Wardley, and that the Usyk fight could take place within the first half of 2026.
“That’s the sense I’m getting. I think Usyk’s an honourable guy, one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the history of the sport. What he’s achieved is remarkable, as an amateur, as a cruiserweight and now as a heavyweight,” the promoter said.
“Monumental from Usyk and I think he’s honourable and I think he would see that Joseph has earned the shot, the good old-fashioned hard way by doing the hard yards.”
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He added of Parker: “He’s still relatively young for a heavyweight but he’s a veteran. Look at some of the names on his resume. From Anthony Joshua to Andy Ruiz to Dillian Whyte. Beat Derek Chisora twice, [fought] Joe Joyce. Beat Zhilei Zhang, [Deontay] Wilder, [Martin] Bakole on the trot.
“So he’s got a massive resume with a lot of success and we think he’s at the peak of his powers at the moment. We never take any opponent for granted and Wardley has a massive punch. He could knock anyone out. But I think it would have to be a very bad day at the office, or a bad mistake or a bit of luck.
“Otherwise I just think Joseph’s got too much class, too much experience, too much speed, is confident on that big stage. So we’re optimistic.”
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Wardley’s side profoundly disagrees with that. Michael Ofo, from his management team, explained why they are so confident the Briton can upset Parker.
“When Fabio’s had a bad night, he’s still found a way to win. When Joseph Parker has a bad night, he loses,” Ofo told Sky Sports.
“I just think that Fabio’s special. He’s going to be too fast, too fresh, mentally too fresh to allow Parker to beat him at this stage.”
But they do agree that Oleksandr Usyk is waiting for the Parker-Wardley winner.
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“I believe it will happen at some point next year. We’ll be pushing for that,” Ofo said. “There’s no point getting ahead of ourselves. Fully focused on Joseph Parker and getting this job done, and Monday morning it’ll be all about Usyk.”
But he noted: “I believe that Usyk’s a great champion and he thrives under competition, that he will see Fabio as a competitor and want to fight him. I believe that fight will happen and should happen next year.
“He’ll have earned his right to fight Usyk. I think Usyk will appreciate that and I don’t think he will duck him.
“Fabio will rise up again and show the world that he’s not to be underestimated and he’ll do what seems to be impossible.”
