{"id":508170,"date":"2026-02-27T19:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T19:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/508170\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T19:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T19:45:12","slug":"fabio-wardley-hits-back-at-john-furys-comments-as-dig-aimed-over-carl-froch-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/508170\/","title":{"rendered":"Fabio Wardley hits back at John Fury’s comments as dig aimed over Carl Froch fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fabio Wardley has aimed a dig at John Fury’s pursuit of Carl Froch and addressed the 60-year-old’s comments over a proposed fight against Oleksandr Usyk.<\/p>\n

Wardley, unbeaten in 21 professional fights, makes the first defence of his WBO world heavyweight title in a blockbuster all-British showdown against Daniel Dubois on May 9 in Manchester.<\/p>\n

It’s his first bout since being elevated to WBO champion after Usyk<\/a> opted to relinquish the belt after being ordered to face the British star next.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old had claimed the WBO interim title following his stoppage victory over Joseph Parker last October and eyed a clash against the Ukrainian, who has beaten the likes of Tyson Fury<\/a> and Anthony Joshua<\/a> during his championship reign.<\/p>\n

But had Usyk vs. Wardley got made, John<\/a> wouldn’t have liked his fellow countryman’s chances given the ‘levels in this sport’.<\/p>\n

\"FabioFabio Wardley defends his WBO world heavyweight title against Daniel Dubois on May 9. Image: Getty <\/p>\n

On whether Wardley is ready to face Usyk, John explained: “If I was guiding Fabio – no, because there are levels in this sport and he\u2019s not there yet. Usyk is a clever fighter with massive experience. We\u2019re talking about a guy (Wardley) who didn\u2019t have an amateur career. Eight fights in a semi-amateur format. You can\u2019t just jump from that level straight to this one.<\/p>\n

“Don\u2019t get me wrong – if he lands on Usyk, he\u2019ll flip him upside down. But I\u2019d give him four or five more wins, let him face good opponents, and only then let him go for it when he\u2019s actually ready. You need the right moment with Usyk. Usyk isn\u2019t eternal – he\u2019s 38.”<\/p>\n

While Wardley accepts there are levels, he insists the supposed gap is a lot closer than fans and critics think.<\/p>\n

“I will accept there are levels, but also I’m with the same thought I am definitely much closer than people probably think or assume,” he told SPORTbible. “The difference with Usyk is that he’s proven at the top level. He’s taken on the top guys. I’ve not done – don’t get me wrong, I’ve done a few – but I’ve definitely not done as many as he has. So, that’s something that just takes time, but I’m willing and ready to jump in.”<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Fury caused mayhem at his son’s launch press conference. Image: Getty <\/p>\n

We couldn’t mention ‘Big’ John without bringing up his proposed fight against Froch, having confronted ‘The Cobra’<\/a> before calling him out to a grudge match on the undercard of his son’s comeback against Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 11 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.<\/p>\n

But Wardley isn’t interested in the retired boxer, who was knocked out in his last <\/a>ring appearance, resuming his career.<\/p>\n

“Not a fight many people want to see I don’t think,” he said of John vs. Froch.<\/p>\n

Asked if he wants to see it, he hilariously replied: “No, I don’t! No, I don’t!”<\/p>\n

Whether John actually fights Froch remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure, Wardley is gunning for the big heavyweight names if he can get past Dubois.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fabio Wardley has aimed a dig at John Fury’s pursuit of Carl Froch and addressed the 60-year-old’s comments…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,142287,85,13093],"class_list":["post-508170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-john-fury","tag-sports","tag-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}