Seven months after Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke bludgeoned each other to a split decision draw in London, Wardley took no time to settle their dispute, knocking out Clarke inside a round in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Clarke (8-1-1, 6 KOs) started the battle of the rematch between unbeaten British heavyweights solidly, working behind a stiff and cultured jab, until Wardley (18-0-1, 17 KOs) unleashed a thunderbolt of a right hand in the corner of the ring that exploded on Clarke’s temple. Badly hurt, Clarke sought to fight fire with fire and looked briefly to have backed off Wardley’s assault.
But Wardley spun out of an attempted clinch, landing a left hook and another right hand that sent Clarke, 33, along the ropes and back into the same corner. And it was over those ropes in that corner that Clarke wound up draped when another Wardley right hand sent him down.
The referee Victor Laughlin began the count as Clarke’s brain scrambled to communicate with his body, but he soon called it off. The official time was 2:28.
“I went into that first fight with a lot of background stuff, a lot of things,” said the 29-year-old Wardley afterwards. “We got them fixed up. We got the game plan right; we put it together; executed on the night. Executed.
“Sometimes, war is needed, sometimes a little bit of brains is needed. But I took enough assessment from the first fight to know, like I said in all interviews, I had success in that war mode. We just needed to cuten it a little bit; we just needed to be a little bit sweeter; put it together a little bit nicer; set things up a little bit better; disguise them a little bit better. But look, I can’t help it. War by name; war by nature.
“Once I have my enemies hurt, there’s there’s no help for them unless that bell comes. That’s the only thing that will save you.”
Wardley’s promoter Frank Warren later told DAZN that Clarke had suffered a broken cheekbone.
By Kieran Mulvaney