Rising heavyweight contender Fabio Wardley 16-0 (15) says that rival David Adeleye 12-0 (11) acted out of fear when he attacked him on the red carpet at an event to announce the fight.
The British duo will be able to work out their difference when they clash on the undercard of the 10-round non-title fight between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury 33-0-1 (24) and boxing debutant and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou 0-0-0 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this Saturday night.
“Disappointment with being associated with something like that,” recalled Wardley of his dust-up with Adeleye to Sky Sports.
“I’ve done a lot in my career. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the back and forth. I understand a bit of mouth here and there, but for it to turn into something physical and for it to take away from the fantastic event that was – the red carpet, the press conference.
“It was supposed to be a massive event, watched by millions. We were supposed to be on the big press conference stage and we got to announce ourselves and get that exposure and lap up the moment really – and all that was taken away by some silly people with some silly antics.
“Nothing in my career has ever led me to do anything like that. I’m not that type of professional. I respect the sport and everything that it’s about. It’s just disappointing that I’m associated with something like that.”
Asked why Adeleye behaved the way he did, Wardley was confident in his answer.
“Fear, I think. Nerves,” he said.
Wardley says he will use Adeleye’s nervous energy against him come fight night.
“He is what he is. He’s useless for the most part,” Wardley told Queensberry Promotions. “He’s not really done too much. He’s got a loud mouth and a lot to say for himself with not a lot of substance to back it up. I think that’s the difference in us.
“One of the comparative differences between us is that I don’t really say too much in terms of jibing at my opponents or really going for them but I’ll get in the ring on the night and I’ll show you. After that, maybe I’ll take it to twitter and I’ll rub it in a bit. Aside from that, I’m not really going at you too much whereas he seems to be the opposite. He’s got a lot of talk, a lot of mouth and a lot of the big I am.
“When it comes to fight night he doesn’t seem to show up that well. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when he’s under the real bright lights with someone who been there, seen and done it all – there’s nothing that’s going to throw me off course – and see the real fear and panic in someone’s eyes.”