FRAZER CLARKE POSES AT WEIGH-IN AHEAD OF MARCH 31 BRITISH TITLE CHALLENGE VERSUS FABIO WARDLEY AT THE O2 IN LONDON. PHOTO CREDIT: LAWRENCE LUSTIG/BOXXER
Fabio Wardley (18-0-1, 17 KOs) walked Frazer Clarke (8-1-1, 6 KOs) in one round in one of the most anticipated heavyweight rematches of the year.
Their first fight in March, which ended in a split draw, was a war of attrition. This time it was an eruption.
Wardley branded Saturday night’s headliner for the undisputed light heavyweight title clash between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as one of the most exciting fighters to watch in the openweight class.
Showing all the bravado of youth, 29-year-old Wardley pounced on Clarke at the first sign of weakness. It came midway through the first round when he found an opening for a perfectly timed overhand right, which dropped Clarke in the neutral corner. In a smart move, Wardley dug into the body with both hands as Clarke tried to fight his way out of trouble. It was a bad decision.
Wardley got the upper hand and spun Clarke into the ropes. When Clarke untied himself, he was met with a hard left hook, followed by a clubbing right hand that buckled the knees of the 33-year-old and crumpled him to the canvas.
Clarke, down on one knee with his arm draped over the ropes, looked up at the referee with his eyes rolling back in his head. The fight was wisely called off.
“I always know that once I hurt someone, I can get rid of them,” said Wardley, who landed 64% of his power shots, according to CompuBox.
When Wardley and Clarke first met at London’s O2 Arena seven months ago, the question was whether Wardley could match Clarke, who won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 12-round fight was a belt. In a battle of wills that featured many shifts in momentum, Clarke was down in the fifth round and deducted one point in the seventh for repeated low blows. Yet Clarke weathered the storm to survive until the final bell, drawing on his amateur pedigree to claim a split draw with scores of 115-112 (Clarke), 114-113 (Wardley) and 113-113 .
This time Wardley left no doubt.
“I have dynamite in each hand. I know once I hurt someone, I can get rid of them,” Wardley said.
“I want belts, I want titles. These look great and good, but I want the ones that say world champion. Whoever is still hunting them, we will have to meet here.”
