By Liam Napier in London

In a dramatic, absorbing, brutal battle, Fabio Wardley crushed Joseph Parker’s dreams of a shot at the undisputed heavyweight world championship.

In a fight dubbed ‘all or nothing’ at London’s O2 Arena, with the prize of a crack at heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk at stake, Wardley proved his durability to absorb a series of punishing blows to stop Parker in the 11th round.

With Parker on the ropes, referee Howard Foster stopped the contest 1m 54s into the penultimate round to spark an outcry from many New Zealand fans and prominent boxing pundits around the globe.

Parker wasn’t firing back but he could have been given more time.

The unbeaten Wardley, who traversed from the Ipswich football academy to boxing at age 20 with no amateur pedigree, claims Parker’s WBO interim title and, with it, the status of the world’s second-best heavyweight to earn a shot at Usyk.

White collar boxer to world champion would, indeed, be some fairytale script.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, alongside heavyweights Tyson Fury, Moses Itauma, Agit Kabayel, Daniel Dubois, Dillian Whyte, Derek Chisora, Joe Joyce and Jarrell Miller, were among those in attendance at the rocking London venue.

Seeking to capitalise on the prime of his career after being forced to sit on the shelf with two rounds in the past year, Parker risked his prime position in the heavyweight ranks by agreeing to fight Wardley.

Parker was staggered in the second and 10th rounds but otherwise gave as good as he got to hit Wardley with several heavy shots and comfortably lead on all scorecards. He doubled up the jab well and found a regular home with the right hand.

Wardley, though, once again proved his chin can take a punch and never looked like going down.

As he did against Australian Justis Huni in his last outing, Wardley rallied late to load up his devastating right hand and secure the stoppage victory, the most notable of the 30-year-old’s career.

After the resurgence of his six-fight win streak, the last three against Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang, and Martin Bakole, this is Parker’s first loss since his defeat to Joyce in 2022, and his fourth in 40 pro fights.

With a second world title shot now out of reach, Parker will be forced back to the heavyweight pack but he has one more fight remaining on his contract with British promoters Queensberry.

Liam Napier is a Senior Sports Journalist and Rugby Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. He is a co-host of the Rugby Direct podcast.