The Barista, 30, defeated Lupesoliai La’auliolemalietoa 33, last Saturday (10.25.25) via technical knockout, and The Wrecking Ball, 20, has now commended Wardley’s for his achievement.
Speaking with Sky Sports, he said: “He's just beat a guy who's got a whole amateur pedigree, has fought all these names and Fabio's just come there with a couple of unlicenced fights and now could be potentially boxing for the heavyweight championship of the world.
“It's not a mockery of the sport, it's more a real Rocky story.”
Wardley’s victory over Parker makes him the mandatory challenger to Oleksandr Usyk’s, 38, WBO heavyweight belt, and Itauma “would back him all the way”.
He said: “If he does fight [Usyk] I would back him all the way but it's a difficult ask. He's in the same gym as me so I'm never going to hate on him.
“He's done it himself, but he has definitely overachieved in the sport. So anything that he does from now on is always going to be just a bonus.”
As for himself, Itauma has revealed he is looking to get back in the ring early next year.
The Wrecking Ball had defeated Dillian Whyte, 37, in August and was hoping to fight again before the end of the year, but Itauma has said he is now looking at January or February 2026 for his next bout.
He explained: “I wanted to box December 13 but I think that got kind of anointed to Dillian Whyte versus [Derek] Chisora. So I feel like it's going to be something end of Jan, end of Feb. So we'll see.”
Looking to 2026, Itauma said: “You can set yourself goals and you'll never be able to achieve it only because it's never in your hands. My goals are to knock everybody that they put in front of me out. But apart from that, I can't really do much.”
Itauma had named the next challenger for the WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight title held by Kubrat Pulev, 44, but The Cobra has since confirmed he will be sharing the ring with Murat Gassiev, 32, in December instead.
Itauma’s promoter Frank Warren said: “We've got to see what happens with this Pulev situation because the WBA ordered that fight and he can't get out of it. We'll see where we go.
“They're talking about they want to go to Dubai for this Gassiev fight but the WBA has not sanctioned that fight, to my knowledge. How can you sanction a fight if you're putting another one out? So we are where we are.”
