The utterly devastating knockout British heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley scored last night, this in his big return fight with Frazer Clarke, was just nasty, while the shocking sight of Clarke’s head, “dented” as it was from Wardley’s succession of right hands, was simply disturbing. A violent reminder of how dangerous the sport of boxing is, Wardley’s stunning first-round KO resulted in no one picking beforehand.
The first fight between Wardley and Clarke was, as we know, a real war, a 12-round war draw. Going into the return fight, plenty of us were buckled in, ready to see another tough and grueling battle. That said, some alarm bells were sounded when Clarke hit the scale as heavily as he did, with the Olympic bronze medal winner tipping in at a hefty 271 pounds. But any thoughts of “Big Fraze” running out of gas as the fight progressed were made redundant as Wardley iced his man in double-quick fashion in Riyadh.
Wardley, now 18-0-1(17), hurt Clarke with a big overhand right to the head, and he then cracked his rival with a left hook, followed by another right hand that buckled Clarke’s legs and sent him crumbling to the mat. It was over; Clarke’s glassy-eyed expression was enough to convince the ref to call it off. The “dent” in Clarke’s head was instantly noticeable, and the beaten fighter is set to underdog surgery in the hospital for a broken jaw (or may well have already done so at the time of writing).
We all of course hope Clarke, 8-1-1(6) makes a full recovery and is fine. But can Clarke bounce back from such a devastating, nasty KO loss?
As for Wardley, he aims to fight for a world title before too long, yet it has already been suggested that he could feature on the upcoming February card that is set to be headlined by a second ‘5 Vs. 5’ card, between Queensbury and Matchroom fighters. This may mean Wardley will fight his good mate Johnny Fisher, who is also unbeaten.
Wardley said, “If the phone rings,” he will take the fight, as business is business.
“He’s a good friend of mine; he wished me all the best for this fight. It would be a sticky one; it’s business at the end of the day,” Wardley told IFL TV about a possible fight with the 12-0(11) Fisher. “If the phone rings, it rings.”
Wardley has shown so much improvement as a fighter as he has gone on his route to what he hopes will be the top. Last night, Wardley showed how dangerous he is and how hard he can bang. A fight between Wardley and Fisher would be something to see.
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