Joseph Parker has offered to step in and fight Moses Itauma on December 13 should all go well against Fabio Wardley later this month.

Former WBO world champion Parker, The Ring’s No. 2-rated heavyweight, is scheduled to face undefeated Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) in an intriguing clash at London’s o2 Arena on October 25.

After an incredible four-fight streak in 2024, Parker’s activity has slowed and this fight against Wardley will be only his second outing in 18 months after stopping Martin Bakole at the beginning of the year.

Now the 33-year-old is hoping to beat Wardley and then box once more before 2025 is over - and he insists he would be ready for December 13.

“Fighting once a year is just not good enough,” Parker said. “I want to fight as often as I can and if all goes well with Wardley on October 25, put me in the ring again at the end of the year.

“[Itauma] would be another fight that I would love to take. I'll take any fight. I'm not even in this boxing game to be taking my time and picking fights to fight.

“I will take any fight there is.”

Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) is set to headline Queensberry’s December 13 show at Co-op Live Arena, Manchester but his promoter Frank Warren has struggled to secure a credible opponent for the 20-year-old. During a recent interview with The Ring, Warren revealed that one manager even asked for $3.5m for the fight.

As reported by The Ring’s Mike Coppinger, both Michael Hunter and David Adeleye are in the frame to face Itauma eight days before Christmas but Parker is happy to join the running too.

He added: “I think Moses is a great talent. He can only fight who's in front of him and he's been able to take your business every time. He's young, he's powerful, he's fast.

“I'll fight everyone and anyone. Listen, he's a big threat. He's a very talented young fighter who's just dominating whoever's in front of him so of course everyone's going to ask for big money.

“But if it can happen, it will happen.”

Parker, the current WBO interim champion, also knows that if he beats WBA interim champion Wardley then he will be next in line for a shot at undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian is currently recovering from a back injury and it is unclear when he will look to box again.

Parker added: “As we know he’s injured, is he injured? Well something is happening so he got an extension from the WBO.

“He’s a great champion and he's done tremendous things in boxing. We all know how he has taken over the heavyweight division.

“So for us, not just the fighters at the top, but all the heavyweight fighters, we want to see a bit more movement with the world titles. So Usyk, come on, man. Come on, we need a bit of action.

“But right now I just worry about about what I can control and who's in front of me and I'll just take it fight by fight. There’s no real point looking ahead because you can come unstuck doing that. If Usyk's available, great, I’ll smash his face in too. But if he's not available, I’ll take care of whoever's in front of me.

“Right now I’m just focused on Fabio Wardley, he's got my full attention and I'm excited about him and what he's going to bring and how he's been training.”