John Fury claims that referee Howard Foster stopped Joseph Parker’s fight against Fabio Wardley “10 seconds too overdue” in the 11th round last Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, England.
The “Ten Seconds Too Tardy” fury erupts.
Fury, father of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, claims that Parker (36-4, 24 KO) “unnecessary blows” by the mighty Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KO) after a grave injury in the 11th round.
It was obvious to many boxing fans that the 33-year-old Parker would not be able to last 1 minute and 6 seconds in round 11. With too much time left, Parker was not landing any punches in his defense, and Wardley was raining down shots on him.
Painful final round for Parker
Parker was in bad shape when he came out for round 11 after being stunned at the end of round 10 by Wardley. In 1 minute and 54 seconds of round 11, Parker landed only seven puncheslanding just two before the referee stopped the fight at 1:54. Nothing was received from Novel Zealer that would allow Judge Foster to allow the meeting to continue. In contrast, Wardley landed 52 punches, landing 26 of them in round 11. The fight had turned into a massacre at this point and Parker needed saving.
“Joseph Parker will come back stronger. Gigantic Gypsy Joe will come back because he is only 33 years aged. I know it. My condolences to my brother,” he said Tyson Fury on Instagramin reaction to his friend Joseph Parker being knocked out by Fabio Wardley last Saturday night.
Fury is right. Parker can come back, but he has to be selective about the opponent he faces. Staying away from Wardley, Moses Itauma and Agit Kabayel would be a sharp move. However, at the age of 33, he must take a risk to return to the fight for the world title. It can’t achieve this by fighting for cushioned jobs over the next three to five years.
Has Foster run out of time again?
“Whoever said the arrest was a little too early wants to lock him up and take away his driving license,” John Fury told iFL Televisionin response to the controversy surrounding referee Howard Foster’s stoppage of the fight in the 11th round after Fabio Wardley injured Joseph Parker.
“For my money it was 10 seconds too overdue as Joe was taking unnecessary punches from a man who in Fabio Wardley can knock down a wall with either hand,” said John Fury.
Ten seconds of controversy
The final sequence of round 11 was a repeat of what happened in round two. Parker was saved in this situation after losing his mouthpiece and receiving a 10-second timeout. Stopping the action was a questionable move on the referee’s part, considering Parker was in a terrible position – he was very dazed and was constantly receiving punches from Wardley.
In such cases, referees will usually allow the sequence to play out rather than stopping the action when the fighter is on the verge of being knocked out. Understandably, Wardley was unhappy after the fight when the referee ordered a timeout in the second round.
“I believe he is one of the goats in boxing. It would be an honor to share the ring with him and if I get the chance, I will definitely win,” Hamzah said after his victory over Begic.
Sheeraz made this comment after saying he plans to win more super middleweight titles after moving up from 160 pounds.
“I’ll fight anyone. Look, there were boxing kings in the ring tonight and I’m trying to follow in their footsteps. So I’m just going to beat whoever I put in front of me.”
“So I’m going to take all the belts this time and inshallah, next year you will be able to see Hamzah Sheeraz as the unified champion in the 168 division,” Hamzah said.
The path to a Sheeraz-Canelo fight could open quickly if Alvarez defeats Christian Mbilli on September 12 in Riyad. Canelo’s victory will likely allow him to retain the WBC title again, while Sheeraz now holds the WBO belt after Saturday’s victory.
This would give Riyadh Season a ready-made unification fight between the two marquee names at 168 pounds.
Sheeraz’s team already seems interested in forcing the fight. Manager Spencer Brown pointed openly at Canelo after the fight when discussing the newly crowned champion’s next step.
“We are marching in the face of Canelo boxing,” Brown said.
“This is the fight we want.”
Maybe it’s finally time for Sheeraz. He has picked up back-to-back stoppage wins since moving up to super middleweight, and his size and offensive style appear to be better at 168 pounds than they were at the end of his middleweight career.
Canelo is still the bigger star by a mile, but Riyad has shown he’s willing to take on younger, undefeated fighters against established fighters if enough belts are on the line. Sheeraz seemed to be part of that conversation on Saturday night.
Robert Segal is a boxing reporter at Boxing News 24 with over a decade of experience covering fight news, previews and analysis. Known for his first-hand reporting and in-ring perspective, he delivers authoritative coverage of champions, challengers and emerging talent from around the world.
However, for a long time it seemed that this would not be an effective defense, and the final came in the 11th round when referee Mark Lyson stopped the fight, which many viewers prematurely believed.
Verhoeven performed well above expectations, causing Usyk numerous problems throughout the fight, but although he recovered from the knockdown, the kickboxing star was stopped on his feet and denied the chance to advance to the 12th round.
Tony Bellew believes Verhoeven should be given a chance to continue his career, but Mexican superstar Canelo does not share the same view.
“It was a good fight, I don’t think so [that it was was an early stoppage]I think they saved a brutal knockout.”
Usyk is expected to take some time before deciding on his next move, with some fans calling for an immediate rematch with Verhoeven while others want him to face mandatory WBC title challenger Agit Kabayel now.
As for Canelo, he will return to action in September and will look to reclaim his world titles when he fights WBC super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli in Riyad, Saudi Arabia.
a biopic chronicling the career of former featherweight champion Prince Naseem Hamed will be released in select U.S. theaters and on VOD on May 22. The film stars Amir El-Masry as Hamed and Pierce Brosnan as his longtime trainer Brendan Ingle, with Sylvester Stallone among the executive producers.
Directed and written by Rowan Athale, it premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2025 and was released in the UK and Ireland on January 9, 2026, before arriving in the Middle East via the Red Sea Film Festival. Vertical holds U.S. distribution rights, and the film was financed by AGC Studios and BondIt Media Capital.
What the movie covers
The plot follows Hamed’s rise from Sheffield, England, to a world title under Ingle, an Irish-born steelworker who ran a boxing gym in a church hall. According to the official description, the film also addresses the racism and Islamophobia that Hamed faced in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s, and also focuses on his relationship with Ingle, who died in 2018.
Collider published an exclusive clip from the film on May 21 featuring Hamed’s 1994 fight against Vincenzo Belcastro. In this fight, Hamed won the European bantamweight title in 12 rounds, which was only his 12th professional contest, which was the beginning of his later career.
The warrior behind the film
Hamed, a southpaw of Yemeni heritage, finished his professional career with a 36-1 record and 31 knockouts while holding featherweight titles in multiple sanctioning bodies throughout the 1990s. Now 51, he was known for his unconventional style, pre-fight showmanship and ring walks that often ended with a fall over the top rope. In 2015, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Following Ingle’s death, Hamed directly attributed his success to his coach Ring that without him he wouldn’t have achieved what he did in sports.
The supporting cast included Toby Stephens as promoter Frank Warren and Katherine Dow Blyton as Alma Ingle. The film lasts 110 minutes.
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