Fabio Wardley secured a major upset win over Joseph Parker at The O2 arena in London on Saturday; The victory means Wardley is now the mandatory challenger for undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk; The Ukrainian must fight Wardley next or vacate the WBO heavyweight title
Fabio Wardley will look to enforce his mandatory shot at undisputed heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk next.
Wardley is adamant that he will present a new kind of challenge for the masterful Ukrainian.
"I haven't sat down and dissected him yet, but that's a job for next year," Wardley said. "It's a wild one when you piece it all together but I'm the next one up.
"I've got big broad shoulders so that's fine by me, I'll carry all the pressure. But I'm something different.
"[Usyk's previous opponents] all come from similar backgrounds and ways of doing things, I come from a different school, or a non-school, however you want to call it. We've thrown all the usual guys at him, our top dogs. Let me have a crack with something different and see where we end up."
Wardley had no amateur boxing background. He began as a white-collar fighter but remains unbeaten as a professional. He was a major underdog against WBO Interim titlist Joseph Parker but scored a tremendous upset victory against the New Zealander at The O2 arena on Saturday night.
The win means Wardley has overhauled Parker as the mandatory challenger for Usyk's WBO title, one of the four world championships the Ukrainian holds.
Usyk now must box the Ipswich man next if he is to retain the WBO belt.
Wardley once sparred with Usyk in Ukraine, now he believes he'll get his dream fight with the undisputed champion in the new year.
"I don't know how I put that one into words. That has been the goal for a number of years now. That's been the objective. That's been everything I've wanted," Wardley said.
"Look we're there. It's a wild one to say. One of the generational talents, one of the best to ever do it and all the marbles. There's nothing more I can ask for. There's nothing more I could want within this sport.
"Just like everything else that's led me here, all I've ever asked for is the opportunity and I've got that and I'm not planning on stopping here, I'm not planning on going to Usyk and going thanks for having me and rolling over. That's not what I'm about.
"So when that bell does go and me and Usyk do finally get in the ring, he's going to have to work for it."
There are hopes that the Usyk fight could be made for the first quarter of 2026. Wardley is eager to fight him, in Britain or overseas.
"Tell Usyk to turn up. Give him the directions to Ipswich. I'll give him my postcode, he can come find me in the garden, I don't care. As long as he is there, bring his belts, let's get this on!" Wardley declared.
"All the bumps in the road, they've been what's made me," he continued. "Everything built me and built resilience. All the setbacks, all of you guys saying I'm a white-collar guy, I'm not going to do that well. All of that builds resilience.
"That's why when I'm in the ring on the night, I don't care if it's not going my way, I don't care if the judges don't have me up. I believe in me.
"I'm just riding the wave. It's been a wild ride, a wild journey and it's nowhere near finished yet. I've still got a lot more to do, a lot more to tick off in the sport and there's way more to come."