Frazer Clarke says he has agreed a rematch against Fabio Wardley after the British heavyweight rivals fought to a thrilling draw at The O2 in March earlier this year; details on the date and venue are to be revealed soon
Tuesday 20 August 2024 23:27, UK
Frazer Clarke says an eagerly-awaited rematch against Fabio Wardley has been agreed after the British heavyweight rivals were forced to settle for a draw in their epic first encounter earlier this year.
Wardley retained his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles after the thrilling split draw at The O2 in March, during which Clarke was knocked down in the fifth round before recovering emphatically to open up a nasty gash on the nose of his rival in a brutal, unrelenting 12-round battle.
It would become an immediate fight-of-the-year contender, attracting a peak television audience of 746,000 and becoming the fifth-most watched boxing event on Sky Sports in the last 10 years.
Both Wardley and Clarke have since enjoyed a deserved break as they recover physically, the latter revealing he has now agreed a second fight with a date and venue to be confirmed soon.
"It's agreed and it's on, I'm always getting asked on the street when is the rematch happening, I can't give that information yet but we are back on and you'll get the news very soon," Clarke told Sky Sports.
"I hope it goes like clockwork but this is heavyweight boxing and it's me, my career is always up and down, it's been crazy from the get go. We can hope for it to go swimmingly but it's a heavyweight title fight and there's always drama."
The rivalry represents a fascinating clash of backgrounds, Clarke having come through the Olympic ranks as Team GB captain and Wardley having started his boxing career on the white-collar scene.
A war of words had ignited last year when Wardley accused Clarke of ducking a prospective fight between the pair after the Tokyo bronze medallist withdrew from initial purse bids, a decision Clarke reiterated was out of his hands.
With March's result Clarke moved to 8-0-1 as a professional while Wardley also retained his undefeated status at 17-0-1.
"I take a lot of confidence into it, I think I did a good job first time, there's room for improvement but I've had more experience and I believe in myself a lot more.
"I'm going in there to do one thing and that's to knock Fabio Wardley out, winning won't be enough for me. I want to put a job on him, but it will be a tough task just like the first one. May the best man win, but I'm backing myself.
"I grew respect for Fabio after that first fight so I have no trash talk, I think you see two competitors that just want to get the best out of each other and get their hands raised. Message to the fans is to tune in and enjoy it when it happens."
Sky Sports Boxing's Andy Clarke...
"It was 12 pulsating rounds and the fight toed and froed and that's what you always want in a good fight. Neither one of them had been 12 rounds, let alone 12 rounds like that, but both showed they can dig deep. If they didn't have that dog in them to do that one of them would have broken.
"It will come down really to who can make those tactical adjustments because they've had a really good look at each other now and both know the other one won't fold under pressure, that won't happen. It's about who can make those little tweaks to exploit what they see as weaknesses."
Watch Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium live on Sky Sports Box Office on September 21.
