Wardley Wants To ‘Clean Out’ Clarke To ‘Get In The Mix’ Of Changing Heavyweight Landscape
Fabio Wardley has vowed to “clean out” rival Frazer Clarke in their rematch later this month and hopes an impressive victory will put him “in the mix” of the ever-changing heavyweight landscape.
Wardley (17-0-1 16 KO) and Clarke (8-0-1 6 KO) will run back their epic bout from March – which ended in a thrilling draw – when the pair meet again on October 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the undercard of the undisputed light-heavyweight title clash between Artur Beterbiev and Dimitrii Bivol.
Wardley, the British and Commonwealth champion, was in control of the first bout when he sent Clarke to the canvas in the fifth round, but the former Olympic bronze medallist came on strong in the second half of the fight to ensure the battle ended in a rightful draw.
Wardley says he will leave nothing to chance in the rematch and believes a victory will carry much more than bragging rights, with plenty of opportunities available to the leading heavyweight contenders.
“I’m ranked in the top 10 with three or four of the governing bodies, in line for potential world title eliminators, things like that,” Wardley told Sky Sports. “You never know how the heavyweight division is going to go. You never know who’s going to win, you never know who’s going to lose. You never know how the landscape is going to pan out. So one fight at a time. We tick off Frazer, we have a look.
“At the end of the year, when you see [Tyson] Fury-[Oleksandr] Usyk and them belts fragment and all of that happens, then I’ll set myself in a nice pretty position come January and February, have a look and see where we end up.”
The heavyweight division is indeed in an exciting state of flux. Usyk remains the king and holds the WBC, WBA, and WBO titles following his undisputed victory over Fury in May. However, it was a razor-thin split decision and December’s rematch is expected to be similarly close.
“Obviously Usyk, but we don’t know what he’s going to do,” Wardley added when asked about the top fighters in the division. “Honestly, he conquered cruiserweight. He’s conquered heavyweight. I would sit at home and look at all my belts and go I don’t know what there is left for me to do here. I think I’m good. “He’s one of the few people who can look at it and go I’ve completed boxing.”
After Usyk vacated his IBF belt, Daniel Dubois proved more than worthy of his elevation from interim to full champion by crushing Anthony Joshua last month in his first title defense.
Below the two world champions, there is a gathering of contenders aiming to challenge for the belts and recent results have shaken up the order. In addition to Joshua’s defeat to Dubois, Martin Bakole stunned Jared Anderson with a dominant fifth-round stoppage, and former champion Deontay Wilder has lost his last two. Joseph Parker has returned to contention amid a fine run of form, while Agit Kabayel has impressed in his past few fights.
“[Dubois] is top of the tree as well, definitely, for having the world title,” Wardley said. “Joseph Parker, Martin Bakole, them kind of guys who are on a good little streak of fights and can be in some good entertaining fights and can come through.
“The landscape, it’s definitely in a massive change of guard right now, with Fury losing, with AJ losing, [Deontay] Wilder losing, [Joe] Joyce losing, [Derek] Chisora obviously winning but we know he’s only got a couple left so you don’t really throw him in that mix, Jared Anderson even losing.
“A lot of the people that were at the top, or you would have said were next up, have picked up losses on the way.”
Wardley, who got his start in boxing with a brief foray on the white-collar circuit, believes he is close to being mentioned alongside the top contenders – all he needs is a statement win over Clarke.
“One thousand per cent I’m in the mix. I’m one fight away from being in that top echelon position. Clean out Frazer and then I’m in that mix, I’m the next one in question,” Wardley said. “The next coming up, that next set of people, I can’t think of anyone, aside from me really.
“Undefeated, on the way up, good rankings, all of that, is me. I’m the next one to come through. My proving test is coming up.”
