FabioWardley

British, Commonwealth, WBA Continental and WBO European Champion

FABIO WARDLEY IS the British, Commonwealth and WBO European champion and a rising star of the British heavyweight scene. At time of writing, he is preparing for a rematch of his British title against the Olympian challenger Frazer Clarke.

Formerly a ‘white collar’ or unlicensed boxer, Wardley from Ipswich in Suffolk, turned his attention to the professional ranks in 2017 and is subsequently undefeated in 17 fights.

The charismatic 29-year-old became English champion in 2020 with victory over Simon Vallily, before taking on international fighters of the calibre of Richard Lartey and former world title challenger Eric Molina. All three opponents were defeated via knockout, of which Wardley has registered 16 to date.

Wardley’s English title belt was defended against Nick Webb in 2021 inside a round before he stepped up to British title level in November 2022 against the highly-regarded Nathan Gorman.

Gorman, a relative of Tyson Fury, started well but was chopped down in the third round as Wardley doubled his belt tally.

Holding the coveted British title belt placed a target firmly on the back of Wardley and his name was soon being challenged by contenders such as Clarke and London heavyweight David Adeleye, who he defeated via a convincing seventh round stoppage in Riyadh last October.

Then, in March back in London, Clarke finally stepped up to the plate and went up against Wardley and the fight quickly developed into a thriller. Clarke was put down in the fifth round and also later deducted a point but, in a 12-round first for both fighters, exhaustion set in and Wardley was bleeding heavily after sustaining nose damage.

Ultimately we ended up with a split draw and instant demands for a rematch to settle the score once and for all. Victory for Wardley will see him quickly propelled into world level contention.