Fabio Wardley admits he is in “uncharted territory” after knocking out Frazer Clarke in Riyadh, but he must now use a “level of strategy” in picking his next opponent as he seeks a world heavyweight eliminator.
Wardley produced a sensational first-round knockout in his rematch against Clarke to defend his British heavyweight title in stunning fashion.
The pair had gone the full 12 rounds in their initial fight at The O2 arena in March as the contest ended in a draw.
It proved a far shorter affair – around two-and-a-half minutes – in Riyadh as Wardley caught Clarke with a big right and sent him hanging from the bottom rope in the opening round.
“I knew what to do,” Wardley told Sky Sports. “I knew the answers to the question before they even popped up kind of thing. Now, don’t get me wrong, I never knew or expected or even thought it would go in the first round because credit to Frazer, he’s a strong, durable, wily guy.
“He knows his way around the ring like you saw in the last fight. There was numerous times when I had him hurt in that first fight and he knew how to survive and how to work his way around and just kind of make it through. So I didn’t necessarily expect it to go in the first.
“I just knew about when I could hurt him. And as of when I did, just stay focused and not get it rushed.”
Clarke was immediately taken to hospital after the fight where he underwent scans before having a “successful” operation to repair the damage to his jaw and cheekbone.
Wardley was glad to hear that Clarke’s operation had gone well and he is now on the mend at home, with the Ipswich fighter revealing he has messaged him days since the fight.
“That’s obviously fantastic news that he’s well, home, healing, surrounded by obviously family, loved ones, people he cares for, which is always what you want. We know it’s a job at the end of the day. It’s a tough job,” said the 29-year-old.
“I did message him and just say, ‘look, thank you’. Thank you for those 13 rounds shared that I won’t forget. You won’t forget.
“Boxing won’t forget because the whole saga of me and Frazer Clarke was a crazy saga through boxing for a variety of reasons. We shared something very special. So it was just a message to say thank you for that.
“I hope you’re as well as you can be. I’m glad that you’ve made it home to your family. You’re safe, you’re healthy and all is good.
“But I haven’t had a message replied back. I would assume probably he’s staying away from social media at the moment because we all know how brutal it can be, especially after a fight like that and after a knockout like that. So advisably, probably a good idea.
“But maybe, hopefully, I’ll hear from him in a few days, a week or however long.”
Ring Magazine has placed Wardley into its top-10 heavyweight rankings in ninth position, putting him in elite company with Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua.
“It’s a massive surprise! I was in quite a bit of shock and disbelief. It was kind of a surreal feeling from my beginnings from the way I have powered my way through and forced my way through in boxing,” he said.
“Now I’m in the mix but it’s also quite validating with all my hard work, trials and tribulations with everything that I have gone through and had to fight my way through to get through here with boxing.”
Wardley now feels he is in “uncharted territory” due to the fact he has always wanted to box the best, be on the biggest shows and biggest stages.
“I’ve just always said, ‘yes, yes, yes, yes, yes’. But now I’m at a point where there needs to be a level of strategy coming into it as well, because obviously we know what’s going to happen at the end of the year with all of the world titles and how they’re going to fragment going into next year.
“So it needs to be a level of smartness going into this now about how we pick my next opponent, who they are, how they’re ranked, how that fight and that win would set me up going forward, obviously hoping to get some sort of eliminator, world title shot, something along those lines.
“So yeah, it’s going to be a bit more of a strategic one.”
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