Joseph Parker Fabio Wardley Final Press Conference

Photo - Queensberry/Leigh Dawney

WBO interim heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (36-3, 24 KOs) and WBA interim titleholder Fabio Wardley (19-0, 18 KOs) square off this weekend as they held their final press conference ahead of Saturday’s bout from The O2 Arena in London, England and live on DAZN PPV.

Joseph Parker

On his thoughts heading into Saturday

“This is all or nothing for me. I’m not thinking about losing this fight. Once I win, I’m going to move onto the next fight. I respect my opponent and what he’s done in his career, how he’s prepared for this fight, but I’m on a different level. I’ll show you Saturday night.”

On what level he’s on and how it differs from Wardley

“You’ll see. You’ll see on Saturday night. I don’t want to explain it with words, I want to show it with my actions.”

On the idea he has “miles on the clock” and the fact that he’s been fighting longer than his opponent

“Many miles on the clock, many more to bring. I’m only getting into my prime now. Credit to Wardley for taking this fight, it is the wrong time to take this fight because I’m going to smash him.”

On how quickly he expects Fabio Wardley to realize he’s not on his level on Saturday

“Fairly quickly. You’ll see. There’s no point talking about it, let’s just get to the action.”

On what he’s expecting and what Fabio Wardley will learn on Saturday night

“He’ll learn that it’s okay to have a loss, and he’s got enough time to climb back.”

On if he needs to knock out Fabio Wardley to send a message to Usyk

“No, I just want to go out there and do my job on the weekend. I don’t really care about who’s next. I care about the weekend, I care about Saturday, that’s what I care about. This guy in front of me.”

On his final words before the fight

“I’m going to smash you.”

Fabio Wardley

On Saturday night being one of the biggest moments of his career

“Massive night coming up on Saturday, massive for the pair of us at this table, and massive for me at this stage in my career. It is obviously the biggest fight in my career and biggest fight in my life coming up. So far, so good for me – every time I do step up, I rise to the occasion, rise to the challenge, and Saturday is going to be no different.

On what he makes of Joseph Parker saying the fight will come down to “levels?”

“The separation between levels of where Joe is and where I am, or where people think I am, has been a common theme for me throughout my career to be honest. It is nothing new I am hearing. Everytime I step up to a new level it is always ‘this is a step too far,’ until obviously I come through and I win. Then it’s the next step is the step too far, so for me it is nothing new. I relish the challenge. I look forward to stepping up to prove people wrong and showing that I am very much at the top level of this division.”

On if he thinks he has to win this fight by knockout

“I don't know if it’s a positive or negative that everybody focuses on my power and knocking opponents out. My record speaks for itself, but I think it draws away from my actual boxing skills and ability. I think anybody with an educated brain within boxing knows it takes more than some muscles and a bit of strength to knock someone out. It takes practice, time, and precision, and you have to work at those things. All of those lead to boxing IQ. Just because my record is littered with highlight reel knockouts, I think people get distracted by that and take away from my actual boxing skills that set up those punches or brought me to those moments. I think it works to my benefit because if you think I’m going to be running around that ring with my right hand ready to go, then there’s a lot more you and the team will need to prepare for.”

On if Parker has had too many rounds

“That’s not for me to say, He has been around the block for a long time, he’s got a lot of fights under his record, and by no means is he an old man in the game. He’s definitely been in the sport for a long time and had some heavy fights. I’ve been in a few wars myself and Joe has seen a lot more rounds than me. There’s two sides to that coin for experience. You can take that experience into a fight, but you’re also taking all the miles in there as well, you can’t erase those. There’s two sides to it but it depends on how you look at it.”

On Joe Parker smashing him

“That’s okay. I’d expect nothing less. I’ve proven that I can put on a not so great performance, come back, learn, and pick areas that we can fix and sort out to get the win the next fight. I wanted someone that had no question marks and that’s why we picked Joe. Under Usyk he is the next man and that’s a great one to take.”

“I need someone in front of me with self-belief. That’s when you see the best out of me, when the fight gets a bit gritty, and when the lights are bright, that’s when the best Fabio Wardley shows up.”

On whether activity levels is a factor heading into Saturday

“Potentially, we all know as boxers and as boxing fans how dangerous ring rust can be. That’s not to say that Joe’s just been sitting on the couch watching TV and waiting for the phone to ring. But I think if he had it his way, he definitely would have had more fights in that time period and he would have had more time in the ring and kept more loose and more active if he could. But boxing will be boxing and the game is what it is and sometimes it pushes you to the sidelines a bit. So ring rust on the night could show up, it depends how active he’s been outside of camp, so we’ll see.”

On the idea of losing to Joe Parker

“That’s not the way Saturday night is going to go. At the O2, for me, a home away from home, that’s like an extra man in the ring with me. It’s an extra buzz.”

On if he brings something Parker hasn’t seen

“I think I bring something that no boxer has seen. Few boxers come from my background and have made it this far in the game. My style is unorthodox and I wasn’t brought up on the same style of boxing that everyone else was. I took pieces and built it together for myself, which created a style that changes and flows, and looks different to the opponent across the ring from me. I’m going to keep things fluid.”

On his final thoughts heading into Saturday

“The best boxing in the UK, the air is special, that cauldron lights up when it’s fully packed, 20,000 people in there, electric and wall to wall. Two dramatic fighters in there, but only one winner. Fabio Wardley wins. Fabio Wardley knockout.”