Promoter Frank Warren says Fabio Wardley will be out in April 2026 to make his first defense of his WBO heavyweight title.
Risk vs Reward
Warren had hoped it would be for the undisputed championship against IBF, WBA, and WBC champion Oleksandr Usyk. There was no interest on his side due to what Frank believes was the risk vs. the reward. It would have been a high-risk one for the unbeaten Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs).
Dubois, Chisora, Itauma, Hrgovic, AJ?
Warren doesn’t say who Wardley could fight next. These are fighters who are potential options:
- Derek Chisora
- Daniel Dubois
- Moses Itauma
- Filip Hrgovic
- Anthony Joshua
“Before the fight, he did go on record and say he would fight the winner. Since then, he’s said, ‘No,'” said promoter Frank Warren to talkSport Boxing about unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, saying before the Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley fight on October 25th that he would fight the winner.
Wardley’s KO Run Changes Landscape
The way Wardley looked in his 11th-round knockout win over Parker, it’s not a shock that Usyk chose to vacate his WBO title rather than face him. He has too many well-paying options available to him to take a risky fight against Fabio, who has the wrong style for his manner of fighting. Usyk does better against slow, large, stiff, old, robotic, flabby heavyweights than he would against a young volume puncher like Wardley.
“If I were his manager, I would be looking out for him, and he’s a smart operator, Alex, and he’s done everything that’s been asked of him,” said Warren about Usyk. “He’s looking at fights now for risk and reward. I just feel that he thinks the risk for the reward is not justified.”
If Usyk believed it was a walk in the park for him to defeat Wardley, he’d likely have given the green light to take the fight. It’s anything but a sure thing, and he wouldn’t get a massive $80 million payday fighting him as he would against one of the popular older British heavyweights.
Stadium-Level Fight Hopes
“I believe we would sell out a football stadium with that fight,” said Waren about a fight between Wardley and IBF, WBA, and WBC heavyweight champion Usyk. “You think how many we done. We done 25,000 in Ipswich on a real rainy night with Fabio. And you think if he was in with Usyk, you’d do a Tottenham [Hotspur] all day long.
“So, we’ll see where we’re going. Fabio will be boxing in April. We’re working on meeting up with him and his manager next week. We’re going to have some lunch and work out what we’re doing,” said Warren.