It is a lot of responsibility to hold in one’s hands, being one of boxing’s most-lauded knockout artists. This is typed not from personal experience, of course, but in reference to Fabio Wardley, one of Britain’s preeminent heavyweights. It is also a lot of weight to carry: not just the weight of uncaring fists, but the weight of a “double-edged blade”.
Wardley, mercifully for the Ipswich boxer but mercilessly for his opponents, has fought exclusively on one side of that blade so far. Yet there have been times when he might have caught the glint of its reverse surface in his peripheral vision. For example, against Frazer Clarke in their first fight – a bloody, disconcerting draw– or against Justis Huni in June, when Wardley was trailing clearly after nine rounds.
But against Huni, Wardley was able to produce an inexplicable, neutralising shot out of nowhere in the 10th round, sending fans into raptures at Ipswich Town’s football stadium. And in his rematch with Clarke, Wardley left his British rival with a dent in his head and a haze in his eyes within a single round.
“It’s a bit of a double-edged blade, especially thinking back to the second Clarke fight,” Wardley tells The Independent, on a call with other reporters. “It’s always great to get the win, but the praise I was getting is a funny one. You’re so close to how brutal the sport can be.
“Yes, it was me who threw the punch, but it goes to show that – at any minute – it could have been me on the end of that punch. It’s a funny one to wrestle with in your brain. In a sense, one day it’s Frazer and the next it could be me.”
Indeed, the 30-year-old knows this is a prospect to be taken seriously, even if he has so far gone unbeaten as a professional, following a white-collar entry into boxing.
“It’s definitely not tongue in cheek, there’s a level of reality to it,” Wardley says. “I mark that to the Clarke and Huni fights, where I took a lot of punishment. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a worry; it’s a demon I wrestled with when I decided to get into professional boxing. You have to accept your fate in that sense. You’re more likely to get damaged in a ring if you’re half-worried about getting hurt than if you go in full throttle.
open image in gallery
Fabio Wardley (left) in his first fight with Frazer Clarke, a brutal draw in early 2024 (John Walton/PA Wire)
open image in gallery
Wardley crumpled Clarke with a sickening knockout in their October rematch (Getty)
“It was a conversation I had with myself in the early days and once ‘me and me’ had hashed that out, it was full steam ahead.”
It is full steam ahead into London’s O2 Arena on Saturday, with Joseph Parker awaiting – and a shot at the New Zealander’s WBO interim title. In some ways, it will be a surreal scene for Wardley.
“When Parker was a world champion, I hadn’t even started professional boxing yet, I was still doing the white-collar circuit,” he recalls. “It’s a funny one: I remember sitting in the pub watching the AJ [vs Parker] fight [in 2018], and however many years later, we’re now fighting.”
There may be more at stake than Parker’s belt, though; while 20-year-old sensation Moses Itauma is lurking, undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk could be next for Saturday’s winner. The unbeaten Ukrainian was ordered to face Parker this summer, only to withdraw from negotiations while citing an injury. That episode followed February frustrations for Parker, who was two days from challenging Daniel Dubois for a world title when the latter withdrew due to illness.
open image in gallery
Wardley will square off with New Zealand’s Joseph Parker on Saturday, at London’s O2 Arena (PA Wire)
“From his perspective, and anybody in his shoes, it would be harsh luck,” Wardley says of Parker, 33. “He’s knocked over every task in front of him, and at the end of his opportunities, he didn’t get the shot. Then he has to fight me to get another shot. Look, he isn’t having the smoothest ride, but not me, him or anybody can sit down at the start of the year [and say]: ‘This is how I want my career or year to go.’ It never pans out like that. Credit to him, he’s not crying about it, he just wants to keep fighting.”
‘Just keep fighting’ worked for Wardley against Huni, though the Briton admits he took “a lot of shots!” along the way. Too many, perhaps.
“I’m my own worst critic. It always takes me a bit of time to watch back my fights, because nine times out of 10, there is going to be quite a bit I’m displeased with. But even if I’m behind in the fight… it does matter, in that I want to put on good performances, but it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things: there’s still time on the clock, I’m still able to get a victory. I’m going into this fight with a lot more knowledge of myself than I would have if I had steamrolled [Huni] in a couple of rounds.”
open image in gallery
Wardley (left) was trailing on the scorecards when he shocked Justis Huni with a late KO (Getty Images)
But to linger on the point that Wardley himself is aware of the damage he has taken in two of his last three fights, a question is begged: how much damage is too much?
“I think I’ll know within myself when it’s time to stop,” Wardley admits. “I don’t think I’ll be one of those guys still hanging around in their 40s and 50s, still trying to keep it going. Once those abilities leave me, I don’t think I’ll fight it. Boxing is a fantastic sport, but there is more to life, and I would like to enjoy life after this.”
That must wait, however. Right now, there can be nothing in Wardley’s mind beyond Parker, who is in the form of his life.