Oleksandr Usyk defended by unlikely source amid ‘hide-and-seek’ accusation on boxing return

Joseph Parker defends Oleksandr Usyk from ‘hide-and-seek’ accusation

Himself missing out on an elusive undisputed title fight with Usyk in his return to the ring, current interim WBO champion Joseph Parker has elected to book his return as soon as next month.

And pitted with unbeaten knockout finisher Fabio Wardley in a title eliminator clash, Parker was quick to jump to the defense of Usyk, who was accused of playing “hide-and-seek” on his boxing return by former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordon.

“I mean, what is the injury? A back injury? Who knows?” Parker said of Oleksandr Usyk during an interview with talkSPORT.

“He deserves time off, and you know, when he does come back, hopefully we can get on down the line,” Parker continued. “But for now, Fabio Wardley, this is the one.”

To boot, while Usyk and Parker have their history, the Ukrainian also has a firm background with the man sharing the ring with Parker next month in the capital.

Oleksandr Usyk’s sparring history with Fabio Wardley

Long before his heavyweight supremacy, Usyk ruled the roost at the cruiserweight limit, achieving undisputed status in that division, too.

And during the initial rise of WBA interim champion Wardley, the Ipswich native was drafted into Usyk’s camp in his home country years ago to serve as a sparring partner.

““That would feel like a full circle moment,” Wardley told Queensberry Promotions of a fight with Usyk. “Usyk was one of the first people, at the early stages of my career, seven maybe eight years ago, that I went out to Ukraine and did a training camp with.

“…It would be like a surreal full circle moment,” Wardley continued. “…He wanted me out there [in Ukraine], he saw — or must have seen something in me to want me to be a sparring partner. For me to come around six or seven years later and fight him for all the belts would be one hell of a story.”