What can Fabio Wardley learn from his mentor Dillian Whyte to beat Joseph Parker?

Fabio Wardley becomes the latest Briton to face Joseph Parker this weekend live on DAZN PPV, with the unbeaten 30-year-old pitting his WBA interim title against the former world champion’s WBO interim belt. British heavyweights have enjoyed mixed fortunes against Parker over the years, but luckily for Wardley, he can call one man who defeated the Kiwi a trusted advisor. Dillian Whyte outmuscled Parker en route to victory in 2018 - a few years before he started to mentor and guide Wardley. Now, ahead of the biggest fight of Wardley’s career, the 19-0-1 (18 KOs) heavyweight can turn to someone who has been there and done it all before. Subscribe to DAZN now to watch over 185 fights a year Throughout his professional career Wardley has had the chance to turn to fellow heavyweight Whyte for advice, the ‘Bodysnatcher’ playing the role of mentor and at times, manager. Both fighters are managed by Michael Ofo, whilst Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions currently represents them as a promoter. In the past, when Whyte was signed to Matchroom Boxing, he would arrange for Wardley to fight on his undercard. For the best part of five years, Whyte has been guiding Wardley - especially when it comes to avoiding the same mistakes Whyte made earlier in his career. Speaking back in 2021, Whyte told Sky Sports: "He has an air of invincibility. "That's the best place to be in your career because you think no one can defeat you. No one can touch you. I was there at one point, we all were. It's great! I was knocking guys out left, right and centre. "The bad thing? I didn't train properly or take it seriously enough because I had steel hands and was knocking everybody out. I thought: 'I don't need to train properly because all I need to do is land one punch'. "That was my downfall, in the end. Fabio seems smarter than that. He's got people like me around him. I never had that." The respect and admiration goes both ways, with Wardley eternally grateful for the opportunities afforded to him by Whyte. Asked if he would consider fighting his mentor, Wardley told The Sun back in June: “From the second it would be announced, everybody who knows the sport and who knows us, would know it would be fake and not something I would ever do, because of the amount of love, respect and admiration I have for Dills. “People go on about my story, white-collar, coming from nowhere, sparring Usyk. But none of that is possible without Dillian at the beginning, giving me all of these opportunities. So I would never spit in his face and fight him. “Even if all the sanctioning bodies called for the fight and somebody was silly enough to put all the money up, I would take a knee in the first round and give him the win.” Whyte vs Parker was a tale of two heavyweights looking to enter world title contention after losses to Anthony Joshua. Parker had already been a world champion by the time he took on Whyte; in fact it was his comeback fight after losing his WBO belt to AJ. Whyte was four years older but viewed as an outsider when it came to the world title picture - his loss against Joshua in 2015 counting heavily against him. Early on in the fight Parker boxed well, but it quickly became a battle of attrition. A controversial knockdown in the second - where Whyte appeared to connect with his elbow rather than fist - marked a turn in momentum, with Whyte starting to use his frame to good effect. In round four Whyte leaped into a clinch, bending Parker over the ropes. On top of the dark arts, there was a concentrated effort from Whyte to mix up his punches, working the body before picking off the tired guard of Parker by aiming at the head. The antics of Whyte led to Parker’s trainer at the time, Kevin Barry, suggesting that points should have been deducted. “I thought he should have had several points deducted. I’m a little p***ed (off) actually. I talked to Ian (John-Lewis, referee on the night) before the fight. I said ‘Look, we’re not after any favours, we’ve had a rough time with officials, but let’s make it a fair fight’.” Parker was more magnanimous in defeat stating: “I wouldn’t say dirty, but he roughed me up. He did everything he could to get the victory. He showed heart.” Whyte will be the first to tell his protege that simply getting physical with Parker is not enough to defeat the Kiwi. It can also prove tiring work for the fighter chucking his weight around, as Whyte found out. In the latter stages of his 2018 clash with Parker, Whyte was clearly struggling, even before he was knocked down to the canvas near the end of the 12th round. It is no surprise that Whyte decided to clinch his opponent and see out the final seconds while he was unsteady on his feet. A more experienced and tactically-aware Parker will quickly detect if Wardley attempts to roughhouse; the WBA interim champ must show respect to his WBO equivalent’s punching power on the counter. Whilst we will not know the exact shape either man will be in for fight night before the weigh-ins on Friday, we can look to recent bouts for a rough idea of the weights both Wardley and Parker will fight at. Back in June Wardley came in at 243lbs ahead of his win over Justis Huni, and he has weighed around the 240lb-mark for his last five fights. Parker’s weight has fluctuated a bit more over a similar time span - back in February he weighed a career-heaviest of 267lbs to face Martin Bakole, but in his bouts against Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder, he tipped the scales at 247.5lbs and 250lbs respectively. Since working with strength and conditioning coach George Lockhart, Parker has developed into a more physically capable boxer, complimenting his natural skillset of fast feet and a canny knack for positioning. However, no matter the weight Wardley will have the height advantage, and perhaps the Briton should look to impose his size on his rival. Not only does this have the benefit of tiring out Parker, but it would also slow the fight down. Against Huni, Wardley frequently struggled with the pace of the contest, allowing his Aussie opponent to set the tone and produce more consistent combinations. Stopping Parker from gaining an early foothold could be key. One of the biggest lessons Whyte can teach Wardley has arguably already been completed. Simply, it has been instilled in Wardley to take on the biggest challenges possible, which explains why the WBA interim champion is risking his lofty perch by taking on fellow top contender Parker. Rather than wait his turn, Wardley knows that a win will see him jump the queue formed to face undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk. Explaining the mentality, Wardley told The Ring back in August: “He has never been shy of anything and neither have I. That’s the school of thought that he brought me up in. It’s about believing in yourself and if the opportunity is in front of you, take it, jump at it. “There has never been an opponent I’ve said no to and it’s largely down to me being side-by-side with him and him saying, 'You take these opportunities when you’re part of this team'. We don’t say no. That word is not in our vocabulary. We push, we fight, we move, we crack on and we get stuck in.” DAZN is the home of combat sports, broadcasting over 185 fights a year from the world's best promoters, including Matchroom, Queensberry, Golden Boy, Misfits, PFL, BKFC, GLORY and more. 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