Boxing
Parker vs Wardley: Late change to undercard confirmed after injury blow
Parker vs Wardley only on DAZN PPV - Saturday
British light heavyweight champion Lewis Edmondson has pulled out of his contest against Ezra Taylor on the Joseph Parker vs Fabio Wardley undercard this weekend due to injury.
Edmondson sustained a hip injury in the late stages of his training camp which has forced him to withdraw from the contest just five days from fight night and Queensberry have brought in Steed Woodhall as a late replacement.
The culmination of a heated rivalry between the two was intended to serve as chief support for the WBO Interim heavyweight title clash at the O2 Arena.
Edmondson was coming off a narrow loss to Ukraine’s Daniel Lapin in an attempt to announce himself on the world scene as part of the Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois undercard in July.
Taylor had more than earned his opportunity at Edmondson’s British title after taking a dominant unanimous decision against former English champion Troy Jones in May.
Now, after waiting almost six months for his opportunity, Taylor will be forced to wait once again.
The replacement, Woodhall holds a record of 20-3-1 (12), and most recently won a six round decision over Marcleo Bzowski in September after losing to Callum Simpson in pursuit of the British and Commonwealth titles at the beginning of the year.
Edmondson will be disappointed to be missing out on the British light heavyweight surge as Anthony Yarde, Ben Whittaker, Joshua Buatsi, Zach Parker, Brad Rea, and Lyndon Arthur are all in action before the end of November.
Buatsi will be out first, making his debut for Queensberry against Zach Parker, supported by Rea defending his European title against Lyndon Arthur on the undercard.
Yarde is making his third attempt at a world title - taking on WBC champion David Benavidez in Riyadh on November 22. A week later, Ben Whittaker will make his Matchroom debut against Benjamin Gavazi in Birmingham.
Watch Parker vs. Wardley live on DAZN
Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley fight on Saturday, October 25, to become the WBO mandatory challenger to Oleksandr Usyk. Watch the fight and undercard live and exclusive on DAZN PPV.
