British heavyweight champion, Fabio Wardley, wants to take on all-comers in the domestic heavyweight scene after winning the title and welcomes the challenge of Frazer Clarke.
Wardley threw himself in at the deep end with his boxing career, with no amateur experience and just a couple of white-collar fights to his name. Since then, the popular Ipswich Town fan has gone on to win all fifteen of his professional contests, winning his last fourteen by knockout, after going four rounds on his debut.
In November, Wardley won the British title in a career-best win against Nathan Gorman, knocking his opponent out in the third round.
Since that win, Wardley recognises that he has now become a target for callouts from other British heavyweights, but on the Toe2Toe podcast, the 28-year-old declared that he is up for the challenge.
“Having that nice, shiny belt puts a nice, shiny target on my back.”
“I just want to be in the thick of those good fights, of those good tests and I can come out of the ring feeling I’ve really put myself on the line there and I’ve really gone through the fire and come out the other end.”
Jack Massey’s move up from cruiserweight and Dave Allen’s return to the sport make them contenders for the belt, alongside the likes of Solomon Dacres, David Adeleye and Johnny Fisher.
However, the man causing the most noise is Frazer Clarke, who after being the first man to stop Kevin Espindola, said:
“That’s my aim, towards the end of the year. Me and Fabio know each other and it’s all light-hearted, but he’s a competitor and I’m a competitor.”
Wardley responded saying Clarke needs a bit more time:
“He obviously wants to kick on with this career and push forward. Like he said himself, he needs a few more fights. He needs to do a bit more. I think in the fights he’s had I don’t think he’s even been particularly happy with a few of his performances or even happy with the opponent,”
“You need someone who’s coming forward, who’s trying to put it on you a bit where you can show off them other aspects of your skillset.”
“You need to make a statement.”
Clarke may be just a couple of big wins, perhaps one against a fellow contender, away from challenging for the title, despite a short professional career.