The British Boxing Board of Control recently ordered purse-bids to take place on May 12 for Fabio Wardley to defend his British Heavyweight title against former Olympic bronze medalist Frazer Clarke.
Wardley plies his trade at Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport, with Clarke on the other side of the fence at Ben Shalom’s BOXXER.
Last week saw conflicting statements and a very public disagreement between the rival parties, resulting in Clarke confronting Hearn when in Cardiff to take in the super featherweight world title fight between Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov and Joe Cordina. It had previously been announced that Clarke is due to fight on a Sky Sports card instead with no mention of his rival Wardley.
“We had a chat and he guarantees me that he is not fighting on June 10th.” Hearn said in an exclusive interview for ProBox TV News.
Sky Sports and DAZN along with their promotional allies appear to be jousting hard for this all-undefeated British bout to land on their own networks. It could prove to be the undoing of this one ever getting over the line.
“Look, I know it’s very difficult to make these inter-fights. But at the same time.” Hearn paused, slightly deflated on the topic. “Who knows? It’s a mess. Just some clarity would be nice.”
Hearn revealed in a previous interview with ProBox TV News that he had planned to go big with the prospective fight, taking it to the near 30,000 capacity Portman Road Stadium in Warldey’s hometown of Ipswich.
Both men come from contrasting fight backgrounds. Clarke comes off a distinguished amateur career that saw him medal at the 2020 Olympic Games, and do the same at Commonwealth and European championships. Wardley initially learnt his trade on the unlicensed circuit. He turned professional in 2017, to be plucked from obscurity by manager Dillian Whyte, landing himself a regular slot on the DAZN undercards. He ultimately became British champion by knocking out Nathan Gorman last November.
Clarke turned professional a little over a year ago with six wins on his CV compared to Wardley’s 16 wins and 15 KOs. However, Clarke is just shy of 100 registered amateur bouts, having won 11 medals at credible tournaments.
The differing styles and routes into the sport of both men has captured the nation’s attention. But sadly British boxing fans will probably have to wait. The BBBoC are expected to push the purse-bids back to a later date. Eddie Hearn and Matchroom could have to hold their plans until next summer for the Portman Road spectacular.
In the meantime David Adeleye has been mooted as a potential replacement for Clarke. Adeleye (11-0, 10 KOs) is currently guided by Frank Warren’s Queensbury promotions. The 26-year-old Londoner comes off a 2nd round knockout victory over undefeated Ukrainian, Dmytro Bezus.
