David Adeleye Says Joseph Parker Should Have Taken a Knee in Round 11 Against Fabio Wardley Instead of Trying to Survive Under Fire

David Adeleye says Joseph Parker (36-4, 24 KOs) should have taken a knee in the 11th round instead of trying to make Fabio Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) miss with his shots after he’d been badly hurt at the O2 Arena in London. Parker chose to try to dodge shots, and Wardley kept throwing nonstop, prompting referee Howard Foster to stop the fight.

(Credit: Queensberry/Leigh Dawney)

Too Proud to Kneel

Parker, 33, isn’t the type to take a knee. He’s never done that in his fights, as he’s got too much pride and would rather tough it out. The result is that he lost his WBO interim heavyweight title. Along with it, he’s no longer the WBO mandatory for undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk. Wardley is the new WBO mandatory, and he’s the one who will be receiving a massive payday against Usyk in 2026.

It doesn’t have to be the end for Parker. He can come back from loss, but he’s going to have to stay extra busy now for him to climb his way back to his former perch as the WBO mandatory and interim champion. It could take a while.

“Joseph didn’t have the explosiveness. He’s been lifting too much weights,” said Derek Chisora to Queensberry, giving his theory on why Joseph Parker lost to Fabio Wardley.

Coming into the fight at 262 1/2 pounds was a mistake for Parker. Although he was powerful at that weight, he wasn’t as quick as Wardley, and he appeared to lose some of his steam in rounds 9-11.

“Imagine him landing a right hand on Usyk. You can’t doubt the guy now,” said Hamzah Sheeraz about Wardley. “He seems to consistently pull off the upsets. When you do that, you become a champion. It sounds crazy now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls off a magical upset of Usyk. He can because he can bang.

Wardley’s Relentless Barrage

“Joe should have taken a knee there. He was trying to avoid his shots, but Wardley kept them coming,” said heavyweight contender David Adeleye. “The referee did what he had to do.”

What sank Parker’s ship was the fact that Wardley wasn’t going to stop throwing punches. Many heavyweights would have stopped throwing, taken a breather or stood back to survey the damage they’d done.

Wardley wasn’t going to do that. He kept throwing and would have continued, even if the referee Howard Foster hadn’t stepped in to stop the fight. Parker taking a knee would have helped for a moment, but it likely wouldn’t have been enough. He was too hurt and too tired to survive.