LONDON, England – Fabio Wardley booked his shot at the undisputed world heavyweight title with yet another stunning smash-and-grab victory.

After coming from behind to beat Justis Huni at Portman Road four months ago, Wardley was once again on the verge of defeat against former heavyweight champion Joseph Parker at London’s o2 Arena.

But after standing firm in the face of one of boxing’s most in-form operators, it was Wardley who clinched one of the most dramatic heavyweight wins in a British ring in many years as he stopped Parker in the penultimate round.

What’s more, he is now at the very front of the queue to face undisputed king Oleksandr Usyk, who confirmed during the promotion to this clash between The Ring’s No. 2-rated Parker and No. 6 Wardley, that he would face the winner in his first fight back next year.

After clinching the stoppage, Wardley said: “I’ve got only one thing to say: Uuuusyk!

“We picked Joseph Parker. I believe I’m at the top, and I proved I’m at the top. What I lack in experience I make up for in sheer determination, heart and will.”

Parker is one of the most popular heavyweights on the planet, but there were still some boos on his arrival from the clearly pro-Wardley crowd only an hour’s train ride away from his home town of Ipswich.

Wardley’s name rang out around the venue as the first round kicked off. He attempted to land with a number of his trademark right hands, while Parker was doubling and tripling up his left hooks.

By the closing stages of the opener, the bridge of Wardley’s nose, often a problem area for him, was damaged and bleeding. Parker closed the round with a heavy barrage of punches which seemed to have his undefeated opponent in trouble before the bell stopped the onslaught.

The second round had actually started in the same vein, with Parker on the front foot, but it changed completely when Wardley landed with one of those right hands. Parker was clearly hurt, retreating and attempting to buy time but forward poured Wardley.

For a moment it looked as if the Ipswich man was one big shot away from victory, but Parker held on and, crucially, was afforded some time to recover by referee Howard Foster when his gum shield came out. Wardley jumped straight back on him, and this time the ringing bell saved Parker.

The fight settled somewhat in the third round, but it was still the sort of encounter where you could not afford to look away for a second, with both seemingly capable of hurting the other with any shot they landed.

After such moments of consternation in the second, Parker had completely regained his footing by the fourth and began to land once again with his left hook. He backed Wardley onto the ropes and landed with two more. But Wardley, famously most dangerous when he’s in trouble, fired back with a right of his own.

Parker, now a heavyweight north of 260 pounds, seemed to be feeling the pace and was less busy in the fifth, despite looking like the more dangerous of the two. Wardley, meanwhile, continued to try to find a home for that right hand, although it didn’t come in the sixth, which was another good one for Parker, by now completely settled.

In his previous three outings, Parker had nullified noted punchers Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole and, after holding on throughout the second, seemed to have figured out Wardley too. He landed with a big right hand of his own in the seventh. but Wardley’s chin was answering every question asked of it.

After such a searing start, the pace had slowed considerably by the eighth with both men feeling the effects. Parker had the better of a quiet eighth, almost certainly pushing him well ahead in the eyes of the judges, before another triple left hook had Wardley on unsteady legs.

But after the quiet came another storm. In the 10th, Parker seemed to have Wardley on the verge of the first defeat of his life, but yet again he held firm. Not only that, he landed with a right uppercut of his own on the retreat and finished the round, yet again, on the brink of a sensational comeback victory.

And this time there would be no let-up from the undefeated 30-year-old, who got straight back on the front foot in the 11th, stunning Parker with that trademark right. He poured forward, trapping Parker on the ropes and unloading. As Foster stepped in to end the punishment, Parker’s coach Andy Lee, only a few feet away, held his head in his hands. The official time of the stoppage was 1:54 of round 11.

Parker’s winning run, which had been six fights long, is over, but Wardley’s incredible charge toward the world titles is gathering yet more pace.

“This is a story I’ve never seen in boxing before,” his promoter Frank Warren said. “It’s pretty simple, Oleksandr is a great champion. He said he wants to fight, he’s not going to vacate the belts. His next fight against Fabio Wardley will be for all four belts.

“That’s what he deserves.”