Joseph Parker took to the podium following his TKO loss to Fabio Wardley over the weekend and faced the media to give his take on what transpired. Parker was good enough to give credit to Wardley on his performance
in the fight and although he felt like the stoppage came premature, he takes the loss as a bump in the road while having no intentions of leaving the sport just yet. Here’s some of what Parker had to say below.
Parker on his reaction to being stopped by Wardley
“Congratulations to Fabio Wardley for a tough fight,” Parker said. “He’s a warrior. At the end of the fight I thought I was fine but listen, I’m not the ref, I’m not the one controlling the fight in terms of reffing stuff. But we both went out there and gave it our best and he won tonight so he’s the better man, what can I say.
“He’s a tough man. Like I said before the fight, he was confident, he had ta self-belief, and he showed that he’s a warrior so all I can say is congratulations and all the best for what’s next. Hopefully we can have a rematch.”
Trainer Andy Lee on if he thought the stoppage was fair
“Joe was taking a lot of shots but a lot of them he was blocking and slipping, but he was taking some and there was an opportunity for the fight to be stopped and he stopped it. Do I think it was fair? It was a battle, wasn’t it. You know, it could’ve been the other way around. One punch here or there, just the nature of the sport and heavyweight boxing that’s the way it is.
“I thought Joe was ahead in the fight, boxing very well. But you have to credit Fabio, he found a good punch and that’s just the way it goes, isn’t it? It’s hard.”
Parker on how he rates Wardley’s power
“It’s right up there. He caught me with a few shots and I was like ‘ooh, nice.’ He took the challenge, we both did, and he put on a good performance. I felt like I was doing quite well in the fight and then obviously you get caught and it’s boxing, you know. I felt fine when they stopped the fight but I’m not the judge, I’m not the referee to stop the fight or let it go on. I wanted to carry on, of course.
“Listen, it sucks. It sucks losing a fight. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m all happy. But life goes on. Boxing is part of what I do but I’m very blessed with a wife and kids and a happy family so I’m going to go back to them and regroup, see what’s next. But it does suck.”
On whether he regrets taking this fight with Wardley in hindsight
“No, I don’t regret anything I do. It’s boxing. Life is bigger than just boxing. Boxing is part of what I do. But I’m very blessed to have a beautiful family, a wonderful team, and I’m going to continue to go on. What’s next, Frank?”
