DADDY cool Fabio Wardley had one of the wildest weeks possible… so Saturday’s dust-up with Joseph Parker should be child’s play.
The 30-year-old Ipswich heavyweight sold out Portman Road for his June clash with Justis Huni.
But he looked set for a disastrous defeat after losing all of the first nine rain-lashed rounds.
Incredibly, he landed a tenth-round KO — and two days later his partner gave birth to a baby girl.
So, looking back on the most intense week of his life, he does not seem too worried about clashing with New Zealand’s former world champion.
Asked how much recovery time he had between the last fight and new baby, Wardley said: “Exactly a week! It wasn’t long at all.
“My missus went into early labour on the Wednesday, so I had about two days’ worth of rest and recovery, then I was on edge until the little one arrived.
“I was in the room for the birth, nobody was going to stop me being there for that. All worked out well.”
Wardley had four white-collar bouts while working in recruitment and playing Sunday league football.
His big moment came when he accepted a Facebook invite to spar Oleksandr Usyk in Ukraine and he slowly climbed the world rankings with thrilling wins.
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Wardley is the mandatory challenger for the WBA title Usyk holds and is entitled to sit out and wait for his shot, or keep busy with low-level, knockover rivals.
Instead, he puts it all on the line at London’s O2 against Kiwi Parker, 33, who is on a brilliant run of three wins over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole.
Wardley said: “He is probably the most in-form boxer in the world now.
“And also just fuelled with self-belief because he could have easily said, ‘Oh no, I don’t want the Fabio Wardley fight. I want something a bit easier’.
“So testament to him for wanting to stay busy and active — as we all know how dangerous ring rust can be.
“Credit to him for that but we’re two men of the same mindset.”
Parker has achieved almost all of his most important victories on the road, upsetting, most recently, the Saudi paymasters who wanted him to lose to Wilder and tee-up the doomed Anthony Joshua clash.
That is a stark contrast to Suffolk puncher Wardley who has the total backing of promoter Frank Warren, the town of Ipswich, its football club and music superstar Ed Sheeran.
‘It’s been a wild ride’
It is a phenomenal formula he is winning with — and fired-up Wardley has no intention of losing having gone 20 pro fights unbeaten.
He said: “It’s been a wild ride and one I’m holding on to with both hands.
“I have got no plans of stopping or slowing down anytime soon. It’s just full steam ahead now.
“Local support has always been there — but it has gone up another gear since the whole Portman Road thing.
“There’s a whole new demographic of fans because a lot of those that turned up on the night were more football fans.
“And they have been drawn into the sport by that fight.
“So, that’s just a fantastic thing as well to say. That I was able to do that and draw more attention not only on me, but on boxing as a whole — something I love as well.”
Parker vs Wardley – all the info
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