British heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley has not held back after the scheduled purse-bid debacle between himself and the mandatory challenger for his domestic title, Frazer Clarke.
The purse bid was pulled at the eleventh hour before a twelve- noon scheduling of the purse bidding procedure at the British Boxing Board of Control head office in Cardiff. The bidding procedure was scrapped after the BBBofC informed the promoter of Wardley, Eddie Hearn, that Clarke had withdrawn from the process with only minutes remaining before the process was due to begin.
It is unclear who advised Clarke to withdraw from the proceedings, with blame being firmly placed at the door of Clarke’s promoter Ben Shalom and the management of Clarke in the form of 258 Management.
As one would expect, Wardley was disappointed that the sanctioned contest was pulled out from under his feet. There had been much interest in the contest when the BBBofC ordered it. It would have likely become one of the most anticipated British title fights in recent years where fighters early in their respective careers square off against each other. The contest would have joined the likes of James DeGale-George Groves, Joe Joyce vs Daniel Dubois & Anthony Joshua-Dillian Whyte in regards to legitimate household names within British boxing circles contesting the crown of the domestic titles against each other.
When speaking to Boxing Social, when asked what his thoughts were when made aware of Clarke’s withdrawal, Wardley replied, “It doesn’t baffle me, it pisses me off to be honest. We were about to have one of the biggest British title fights that’s ever been, in the same realm as Dillian Whyte vs AJ and Joyce vs Dubois.”
“Everyone’s talking about it, everyone’s buzzing for it. We as a team are doing our bit, Eddie’s met with Ipswich to see about having the fight at Portman Road, which was a strong possibility.”
“While we’re doing all the leg work to put it all in motion for this massive fight, you’re off trying to make a shit six-rounder with fucking Harry Armstrong. It doesn’t make sense.”
The current status of who will be appointed as the next mandatory challenger remains unclear at the time of publication. However, according to speculation, Wardley continues to be linked with David Adeleye & Matchroom Boxing stablemate Solomon Dacres as opponents in the near future.