Fabio Wardley has proven himself to not only be a worthy British champion but a possible world title threat by maintaining his 18-fight undefeated record at the peak of the domestic level. Yet, Saturday night represents his toughest test to date and ahead of fight night, the Ipswich fan-favourite made a shocking admission.
Despite no amateur experience, Wardley rose into British title contention after knockout victories in all outings since his debut and after 14 wins and 13 knockouts, Wardley was offered the shot at the vacant title against Nathan Gorman – who was halted in just three rounds.
An opportunity on the big stage soon followed, as Wardley stopped American Michael Coffie before returning to defend the Lonsdale Belt on the Fury-Ngannou Riyadh Season card in Saudi Arabia, knocking out David Adeleye in a career-best performance.
Yet, it was Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Frazer Clarke who was being picked by many to put an end to Wardley’s reign and an Easter Sunday showdown gave further substance to those suggestions.
Wardley and Clarke went to war in one of 2024’s fights of the year thus far, where Wardley scored a knockdown and Clarke was deducted an additional point, but still the judges scored the contest as a draw – meaning Clarke would have been victorious if not for the low blow.
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Now, Wardley and Clarke will rematch in what many feel is the highlight of the Beterbiev-Bivol undercard and in an interview with Boxing News, 29-year-old Wardley declared that he intends to vacate the British title during the aftermath.
“Obviously, the Frazer Clarke era, whatever that bit of my life was or bit of my boxing career was – that will be finished after Saturday night. And my British title, British area level fights. I think they’ll be done as well. I can’t see any more contenders that is a right [fight] for me to take at this juncture in my career. I’ve had my good run with it, time to probably let that go.”
This will be Wardley’s third defence of the belt, allowing him to keep a hold of the belt and add it to his collection even after it has been officially vacated.
Although, the strong-willed power-puncher hopes that the British title will not be the only strap that he can look back on after his career, adding that he is hoping to close in on a world title shot during 2025.
“Ultimately setting up for a world title or at least a shot at a world title or eliminator or a voluntary shot.
“I’m up there in the mix. We know the big fight that’s happening at the end of the year. So, once that happens and then a few months later when things start to fragment and mandatories start to get called and eliminators everything moves starts to move in all sorts of directions. I want one of those directions to be towards me.”
Fabio Wardley currently sits at #8 in the world rankings with both the WBO and WBC, #9 with the WBA and #12 with the IBF. As he suggests, belts are likely to become available in the near future, but the route selection may prove pivotal depending on which belts the victor of Fury-Usyk decide to retain.
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