BoxRec

Press Release

Unbeaten heavyweight rivals Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke collide in a ‘Bad Blood’ showdown for the British and Commonwealth Titles on Sunday, March 31st at The O2 in London, live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland and Peacock in the USA.

Reigning champion Wardley (17-0, 16 KOs) is on an incredible 16-fight KO streak, which has seen him steamroll his way through the domestic division. The 29-year-old from Ipswich looked at his devastating best last time out when dismantling David Adeleye on the Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou undercard on October 28th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Bronze Medallist Clarke (8-0, 6 KOs) is just eight fights into his promising professional career. Last year, ‘Big Fraze’ banked ten valuable rounds against former world title challenger Mariusz Wach before retiring domestic rival David Allen in the sixth-round to continue his unbeaten run.

Wardley and Clarke have been on a collision course as both men look to establish themselves as the number one heavyweight in Britain. Their simmering rivalry reached boiling point following a cancelled purse bid last year.

Clarke was ordered as mandatory challenger for Wardley’s Lonsdale belt in April but was later withdrawn from purse bids. The fallout sparked a series of tense exchanges between the warring heavyweights and has added serious spite to their Bank Holiday Super Sunday showdown.

Fabio Wardley said: “I’m absolutely buzzing to be headlining what will be a massive show at the iconic O2 Arena, I’ve fought there a lot before so it’s like a home away from home for me. As a seasoned former Olympian, Frazer Clarke is definitely the most well-schooled boxer I’ll have ever faced, but there’s some lessons you can’t learn in school… And I've got more than enough firepower in my arsenal to lay him flat on his back, just like all my other opponents.”

Frazer Clarke said: “Finally, the fight that I wanted and the fight that the British public wanted. The talking is over, it’s here. Headlining the O2 Arena for the British and Commonwealth Titles is something I’ve dreamed of. I’m ready to take out Fabio Wardley and bring the titles back to Burton upon Trent. There’s been a lot of back and forth but now we can settle it like men.”

Having faced off in the ring before Joshua Buatsi and Dan Azeez’s light heavyweight final eliminator, Wardley and Clarke will come face-to-face again at a launch press conference on Wednesday, February 7th in London.

Purse-bids will be held on May 10

A very interesting one. Wardley has probably overperformed based on his ability while Clarke has massively underperformed given his amateur experience. Wardley seems to have better power (but reckless defence) so it could come too soon for Clarke. Wouldn't be surprised if one of them don't take it though.

Have to say, like the look of clarke so far. Shame hes turned pro late.

Hope this one happens but Wardley has already shown that he loves a bit of international alphabet soup so doubt he'd risk getting walloped by Clarke for the British. He'll probably mutter something about 'letting this one build for a bigger belt in the future' while secretly eyeing a cash out fight against a fringe world contender

veriton wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 12:27 Hope this one happens but Wardley has already shown that he loves a bit of international alphabet soup so doubt he'd risk getting walloped by Clarke for the British. He'll probably mutter something about 'letting this one build for a bigger belt in the future' while secretly eyeing a cash out fight against a fringe world contender

I can’t see Wardley walking away from this. Both Eddie and Shalom will want to show who’s got the biggest balls so I can see some chunky purse bids going in.

You're more optimistic than me. Wardley is now 14th in the world according to the WBA so I think he ditches the British, chews up another non-descript foreigner and then cashes his chips in against, say, someone like Jarrell Miller.

Good fight this. Wardley has impressed me but Clarke has that pedigree.

Great fight and should be interesting purse bids.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 11:53 Purse-bids will be held on May 10

wouldn't surprise me if the winning bid was more than a 100k

Glass Joe wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 16:08

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 11:53 Purse-bids will be held on May 10

wouldn't surprise me if the winning bid was more than a 100k

DeGale v Groves was about 600k 12 years ago. Just shows how far it’s fallen.

Mouth-watering.

I can’t see Wardley ducking it.
This would be his biggest fight, biggest payday, biggest shop window…
And he might even win !

Why is everyone talking about Wardley ducking it? Clarke has fought at a lower level and more protected.

Judging from Wardley’s social media the last month or so I’d be surprised if he ducked it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t meet but neither man seems the ‘ducking’ type

Despite neither having shown themselves to be huge draws I expect some big bids to go in. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised to see 4 or 5 bidders in there.

Joe Joyce v Marco Huck the purse bid was about 450k in pounds. Queensbury lost that bid but bid 325k pounds or so.

The Board can't order anything - if one or both parties don't want it then the fight won't happen and they will just carry on as they were regardless

I can't see this happening

bripez wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 17:27 The Board can't order anything - if one or both parties don't want it then the fight won't happen and they will just carry on as they were regardless

Not quite. If Clarke wants the contest but Wardley doesn’t then the BBBoC will declare the belt vacant and Clarke will box whomever is next on the list.

Wardley tweeted he won't pull out.

mickey1975 wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 16:16

Glass Joe wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 16:08

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 11:53 Purse-bids will be held on May 10

wouldn't surprise me if the winning bid was more than a 100k

DeGale v Groves was about 600k 12 years ago. Just shows how far it’s fallen.

Crikey. A £600k purse for a main event and Frank still decided to go PPV.

maverick23 wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 17:55

mickey1975 wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 16:16

Glass Joe wrote: ↑13 Apr 2023, 16:08

wouldn't surprise me if the winning bid was more than a 100k

DeGale v Groves was about 600k 12 years ago. Just shows how far it’s fallen.

Crikey. A £600k purse for a main event and Frank still decided to go PPV.

More or less sold out as well, I went.

Really intriguing fight. Surprised they ordered it over Dacres or Adeleye (although Clarke's much better than Adeleye). Am I mad to think that even though he's got exactly one solid win (and he took some heavy shots early in that Gorman fight) Wardley might actually pull this off? Clarke just seems a bit laboured and Wardley seems to come alive when he's caught. I guess we'll see how good Clarke really is, on pedigree this should be absolutely no issue for him.

Hope it happens.
Clarke hasn't really been pushing himself opponent wise, given his amateur achievements and his age.
Plus having the British title would be a nice marker point in a pro career.

If anyone missed the Wardly Gorman fight, just watch this short clip of the finish, it was one of those "victory from the jaws of defeat" endings that we love about boxing.
Classic.