Heavyweight contender Fabio Wardley (18-0-1, 17 KOs) looked like a steamroller, crushing the previously unbeaten behemoth Frazer Clarke (8-1-1, 6 KOs) by a first-round knockout on Saturday night in their rematch in the chief support at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Clarke was caught with a big right hand from Wardley with a right hand early in the first round that stunned him, sending him falling against the ropes. It looked like Clarke recovered that shot because he landed a big uppercut to the head of Wardley.
Seconds later, Wardley landed a short right hand Clarke, which took his feet away, sending him retreating to the ropes. Wardley landed two wide hooks on Clarke’s head that sent him falling against the ropes.
Fabio then connected with two massive right hands to Clarke’s head, which sent him down on the canvas. The referee then waived it off because Clarke was in bad shape. It looked like he had a lump on the left side of his jaw. It’s unclear if Clarke’s jaw was broken or what, but it didn’t look good. The time of the stoppage was at 2:28 of the first round.
Earlier this year, Wardley and Clarke had fought to a 12-round draw at the O2 Arena in London on March 31st. Wardley’s face was a mess in the fight, and he looked terrible. Tonight, he got to the heavy-handed Clarke early to avoid the punishment he took in their first fight.
After the fight tonight, Wardley said he’d like to fight for a world title next. That’ll be up to His Excellency Turki Alalshikh if he wants Wardley to fight for a belt, but that’s unlikely. Wardley is going to need to get in line and fight some other top heavyweights while he waits his turn to battle for a title. It would be interesting to see Wardley fight Martin Bakole, Filip Hrgovic or Jared Anderson next.
Last Updated on 10/12/2024
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