WBO heavyweight world champion Fabio Wardley has praised the support of his local football club, crediting the fans of his beloved Ipswich Town for his rise to top of boxing’s most lucrative weight class.
Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) takes on fellow Englishman Daniel Dubois in his first defense of his WBO belt following his elevation to champion last November. The 31-year-old proudly from Ipswich has experienced an incredible rise from the white-collar circuit to having his name etched into boxing’s history books.
In the middle of Wardley’s current three-fight knockout streak, Australian contender Justis Huni was welcomed to Ipswich Town’s Portman Road Stadium to challenge for the WBO interim title in front of 20,000 fans last June. Wardley nearly toor the roof off the stadium, having put in a sub-par performance before coming back late to stop Huni in the tenth round. Wardley has made a recent habit of last gasp knockouts, moving on in his next fight to halt Joseph Parker at the O2 Arena in London last October.
“Always a great atmosphere here, a great club, always great supporters,” Wardley said on DAZN’s Official Fight Preview, while sitting inside Portman Road Stadium. “For me to be able to carry Ipswich with me, wear it on my and proudly take it with me wherever I go and wherever I box and represent. I’ll always announce where I am from. It is a big thing for me.”
Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs) will collide with the champion at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester following his headline heroics against Parker in London. However, as Wardley’s knockout-searching style appears to be turning him into a permanent heavyweight fixture for the immediate future, the Ipswich man regularly returns to the club to meet and greet with the supporters.
“And you owe to those people as well,” Wardley continued. “They are the people that buy the pay-per-views, that share and retweet or whatever you want to call it. Without them, I go unknown.”
The domestic dust up promises excitement, with Dubois coming back to prove a point off a devastating fifth round knockout loss to Oleksandr Usyk last July in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.
“There is not much to say that has already been said,” Wardley added. “I guess the main thing to say on that point is, don’t blink! Because my fans, my supporters, everyone here at Ipswich, especially at this ground, are synonymous with that ‘don’t blink.’ All in a second the fight with Justis Huni was upside down and on its head.”
Wardley will be looking to emulate the recent success of his football team when he headlines the Queensberry promotion live on DAZN pay-per-view. Ipswich Town reclaimed their Premier League status with automatic promotion back to England’s top-tier after one season in the Championship. Following a 3-0 victory against Queens Park Rangers this past Saturday, Ipswich Town finished second to avoid the playoffs.
