{"id":217347,"date":"2025-10-22T07:37:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T07:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/217347\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T07:37:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T07:37:12","slug":"can-fabio-wardley-go-from-white-collar-boxer-to-british-heavyweight-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/217347\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Fabio Wardley go from white-collar boxer to British heavyweight champion?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is a lot of responsibility to hold in one\u2019s hands, being one of boxing<\/a>\u2019s most-lauded knockout artists. This is typed not from personal experience, of course, but in reference to Fabio Wardley<\/a>, one of Britain\u2019s preeminent heavyweights. It is also a lot of weight to carry: not just the weight of uncaring fists, but the weight of a \u201cdouble-edged blade\u201d.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 a bloody, disconcerting draw<\/a>\u2013\u00a0or against Justis Huni in June, when Wardley was trailing clearly after nine rounds. <\/p>\n

But against Huni, Wardley was able to produce an inexplicable, neutralising shot out of nowhere in the 10th round<\/a>, sending fans into raptures at Ipswich Town\u2019s football stadium. And in his rematch with Clarke, Wardley left his British rival with a dent in his head<\/a> and a haze in his eyes within a single round.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a double-edged blade, especially thinking back to the second Clarke fight<\/a>,\u201d Wardley tells The Independent, on a call with other reporters. \u201cIt\u2019s always great to get the win, but the praise I was getting is a funny one. You\u2019re so close to how brutal the sport can be. <\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it was me who threw the punch, but it goes to show that \u2013 at any minute \u2013 it could have been me on the end of that punch. It\u2019s a funny one to wrestle with in your brain. In a sense, one day it\u2019s Frazer and the next it could be me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not tongue in cheek, there\u2019s a level of reality to it,\u201d Wardley says. \u201cI mark that to the Clarke and Huni fights, where I took a lot of punishment. I wouldn\u2019t necessarily say it\u2019s a worry; it\u2019s a demon I wrestled with when I decided to get into professional boxing. You have to accept your fate in that sense. You\u2019re more likely to get damaged in a ring if you\u2019re half-worried about getting hurt than if you go in full throttle. <\/p>\n

\"Fabio<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Fabio Wardley (left) in his first fight with Frazer Clarke, a brutal draw in early 2024 (John Walton\/PA Wire)\"Wardley<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Wardley crumpled Clarke with a sickening knockout in their October rematch (Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a conversation I had with myself in the early days and once \u2018me and me\u2019 had hashed that out, it was full steam ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is full steam ahead into London\u2019s O2 Arena on Saturday<\/a>, with Joseph Parker<\/a> awaiting \u2013 and a shot at the New Zealander\u2019s WBO interim title. In some ways, it will be a surreal scene for Wardley.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Parker was a world champion, I hadn\u2019t even started professional boxing yet, I was still doing the white-collar circuit,\u201d he recalls. \u201cIt\u2019s a funny one: I remember sitting in the pub watching the AJ [vs Parker] fight [in 2018], and however many years later, we\u2019re now fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

There may be more at stake than Parker\u2019s belt, though; while 20-year-old sensation Moses Itauma is lurking, undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk could be next for Saturday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"Wardley<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Wardley will square off with New Zealand\u2019s Joseph Parker on Saturday, at London\u2019s O2 Arena (PA Wire)<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom his perspective, and anybody in his shoes, it would be harsh luck,\u201d Wardley says of Parker, 33. \u201cHe\u2019s knocked over every task in front of him, and at the end of his opportunities, he didn\u2019t get the shot. Then he has to fight me to get another shot. Look, he isn\u2019t having the smoothest ride, but not me, him or anybody can sit down at the start of the year [and say]: \u2018This is how I want my career or year to go.\u2019 It never pans out like that. Credit to him, he\u2019s not crying about it, he just wants to keep fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Just keep fighting\u2019 worked for Wardley against Huni, though the Briton admits he took \u201ca lot of shots!\u201d along the way. Too many, perhaps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 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\u2019m displeased with. But even if I\u2019m behind in the fight… it does matter, in that I want to put on good performances, but it doesn\u2019t matter in the grand scheme of things: there\u2019s still time on the clock, I\u2019m still able to get a victory. I\u2019m 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Wardley<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Wardley (left) was trailing on the scorecards when he shocked Justis Huni with a late KO (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ll know within myself when it\u2019s time to stop,\u201d Wardley admits. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll 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\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

That must wait, however. Right now, there can be nothing in Wardley\u2019s mind beyond Parker, who is in the form of his life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is a lot of responsibility to hold in one\u2019s hands, being one of boxing\u2019s most-lauded knockout artists.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-217347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}