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Bruised, battered, and beaten, Joseph Parker faced the media after Fabio Wardley stopped him in London on Saturday.

It was a back-and-forth battle and one of the year’s best bouts, but it was brought to an abrupt end when the referee Howard Foster put a halt to the action midway through the 11th round.

Parker led on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage, but Wardley had seized momentum and was pouring on pressure. Parker appeared confused at the referee’s decision as, despite the one-way traffic, he was weathering the storm. Regardless, he offered no excuses. "We went out there and gave it our best, he won tonight, so he's the better man,” he said at the post-fight conference.

The WBO interim heavyweight title fight determines a fresh challenger for the two-time undisputed king of the division, Oleksandr Usyk.

And so while Wardley moves toward the biggest bout of his entire career, Parker must reset if he is unable to lure the Brit back to the ring.

"He's a tough man. He showed he's a warrior. All I can say is congratulations. Hopefully, we can have a rematch."

A former WBO champion, Parker enjoyed a six-fight hot streak with significant wins over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole. He had also linked up with esteemed Irish boxing coach Andy Lee, from the Kronk lineage in Detroit.

While Parker credited Wardley, Lee pointed to the work his fighter had done the first 10 rounds to suggest he could have been given the benefit of the doubt, rather than withdrawn from the contest there and then.

"Joe was taking a lot of shots, but he was blocking, slipping,” Lee said. “There was an opportunity for the fight to be stopped. He stopped it. Do I think it was fair? It was a battle, wasn't it. It could have been the other way 'round. One punch here or there, just … it's the nature of the sport. And in heavyweight boxing, that's the way it is.

“I thought Joe was ahead in the fight, boxing very well … winning the rounds. You can have the best game plan in the round, but that’s why they call it an equalizer — and an equalizer can change everything.”

Defeat drops Parker's pro record to 36 wins (24 KOs) against four defeats, and the latest is one that "sucks," Parker said. “I'm not going to pretend I'm happy. Life goes on. Boxing is something I do. I'm blessed with a wife and kids, what makes me happy. So I go back to them. I want to congratulate Fabio, he won the fight fair and square, so he goes on to a bigger fight.”

That bigger fight is against Usyk, who has already lapped other British fighters like Daniel Dubois, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, twice each. It’s something Wardley has been working toward his entire career, and is now within punching distance having advanced his record to 20 wins (19 KOs) against one draw.

"It's been a wild ride and wild journey but it's nowhere finished yet,” said Wardley, before contemplating the task ahead as he is set to take on an unbeaten pound-for-pound great.

“I don't know how I put that into words,” he said. “It's been the goal for a number of years, the objective, and what I've wanted.

“Look, we're there. [He’s] one of the generational talents. There's nothing more that I can ask for in this sport. I just ask for the opportunity, and I've now got that.

“I don't plan on getting into the ring with Usyk and saying, ‘Thanks for having me,’ and rolling over. But when that bell does go, and me and Usyk do finally get in the ring, he's going to have to work for it."

Considering Wardley and Parker are both Queensberry fighters, promoter Frank Warren has his own plan for them — Usyk first for Wardley, and then run it back with Parker.

“Obviously [Wardley is] going to have his fight [against Usyk], and after that, why not,” he said, regarding a rematch with Parker.

“Everyone will want to see it again. It was such an exciting fight. It's a no-brainer.”

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