Fabio Wardley's former rival Joseph Parker has revealed exactly how Daniel Dubois can defeat the British champion in their upcoming grudge fight. Dubois and Wardley will face off in a heavyweight showdown in Manchester on Saturday night, with the Suffolk fighter putting his WBO title on the line.
Wardley claimed the interim belt in October after stopping Parker in the 11th round in a thrilling contest in London. He was later promoted to full champion when Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title. Now, the 31-year-old faces his first title defence against Dubois, who has not fought since a knockout loss to Usyk last July.
Speaking to Playbook Boxing, Parker explained why he believes Dubois will triumph. "I do fancy Dubois. There's a few things that happened in my fight with Wardley. I feel like I really underperformed, around 50, 60% of what I could do," Parker said. "I reckon Wardley should've knocked me out early on. Listen, he won the fight, I congratulated him ... but I do feel like with Dubois, the boxing background he has, there's a bit of a difference. I would say in my opinion Dubois is the bigger puncher. Fabio has some great knockouts himself, but there's something about Dubois, just raw and aggressive."
Parker was scheduled to fight Dubois last year, but the Briton withdrew due to illness just 48 hours before the bout. Now, Parker sees Dubois as the man to dethrone Wardley.
Wardley, however, is not backing down. He admitted he is willing to go to a "dark place" against Dubois. "You're not going to get one free off and I'm going to run away and be on the other side of the ring," Wardley said. "I'm going to knuckle up, head down and come at you. It sounds a bit mental but I like the dark place and I like just checking myself in there every now and then ... It's almost like a muscle, it's something you have to flex every now and then."
The fight promises to be an explosive encounter, with both men known for their knockout power. Boxing fans can watch the bout via DAZN Ultimate, which offers the pay-per-view at no extra cost with a subscription.
