Fabio Wardley vs Joseph Parker scorecards released after controversial stoppage

Fabio Wardley stopped Joseph Parker in the 11th round – and the judges’ scorecards now show exactly what the Brit had to do in order to win the fight

Joseph Parker was up on two of the three judges’ scorecards when his fight with Fabio Wardley was stopped in the 11th round.

Parker had gambled his shot at undisputed heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk by taking on Brit Wardley but his roll of the dice backfired. Wardley unloaded on Parker against the ropes in the penultimate session as referee Howard Foster stepped in, a decision immediately criticised on social media.

Former world champion Tony Bellew was among those to weigh in, saying: “That’s a bad stoppage! At this level of boxing the stoppage has to be definitive! That wasn’t! Well done to both fighters by the way! Really good competitive fight.” Parker refused to condemn the referee but insisted he was not hurt when the bout was brought to an end.

And the judges’ scores at then time of the stoppage have now been released with Parker ahead on two while the third judge had the fight level after 10 rounds, with scores of 98-92, 96-94 and 95-95. That meant Wardley needed to win the last two rounds to draw, while he needed to at least drop Parker to win.

Later, Wardley promised to keep “riding the wave” and insisted he would fight Usyk in his garden. Wardley showed he has one of the toughest chins in the sport as he swallowed several huge punches from Parker before securing the biggest victory of his 21-fight career.

Wardley seemed to have missed out on the chance to stop the bout in a back-and-forth second round and again in the 10th, which appeared a sliding doors moments for the Ipswich right-hander. Yet Wardley went to the well and roared back with a huge right to wobble Parker in the 11th and a flurry of further punches forced the dramatic stoppage.

Asked if Wembley was the dream destination to face Usyk, Wardley said: “Yeah… I don’t know, I think I would like to go overseas, I would like to do somewhere overseas, bigger, something different. “Maybe America? I haven’t been able to go over there yet. Ultimately, it could be in my back garden, I wouldn’t care.

READ MORE: Tyson Fury issues honest response to Fabio Wardley beating Joseph ParkerREAD MORE: Fabio Wardley vs Joseph Parker boxing RESULT LIVE and HIGHLIGHTS

“Tell Usyk to turn up, give him the directions to Ipswich, I’ll give him my postcode, he can come find me and we’ll do it in my garden. I don’t care. As long as he is there, bring his belts, let’s get this on. That has been the goal now for a number of years, that has been the one I wanted and the objective. We are there.

“It is a wild one to say, but one of the generational talents, one of the best to ever do it and the one with all the marbles. There is nothing more I could ask for, there is nothing more I could want in the sport. Just like everything else that has led me here, all I have ever asked for is the opportunity. And I have got that.

“I am not planning on stopping here. I am not planning on getting in the ring with Usyk and rolling over. That is not what I am about. When that bell does go, me and Usyk finally get into the ring, he’s going to have to work for it. I am just riding the wave. Look, it has been a wild ride, a wild journey and it is nowhere near finished yet. I still have a lot more I want to do, a lot more to achieve in the sport and there is way more to come,” Wardley insisted.