Home Boxing News Johnny Fisher weighs in on Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke rematch, offers...

Johnny Fisher weighs in on Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke rematch, offers prediction

Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke. Photo credit: Sporting News

A rematch between undefeated British heavyweights Fabio Wardley 17-0-1 (16) and Frazer Clarke 8-0-1 (6) is a tough fight to pick, but a former sparring partner has given his assessment on how the bout is likely to play out.

Back in March at London’s O2 Arena, the two big men battled each other to a standstill in their 12-round bout for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight championship belts.

Titleholder Wardley, 29, got the better of the early going and it looked like he might be in for a short night when he decked the 32-year-old Clarke from Burton-on-Trent in the fifth round.

Clarke was docked a point in the seventh round for repeated low blows before coming home strong, busting up Wardley’s face and leaving him with a huge gash across his nose.

When the dust settled, the judges couldn’t split them. They turned in scores of 115-112 for Clarke, 114-113 for Wardley and 114-114 even, a split draw.

Fight fans have been clamouring for a rematch ever since.

One man that would like to see it is fellow undefeated heavyweight Johnny Fisher 11-0 (10), who is days away from facing Alen Babic 12-1 (11) at the Copper Box Arena in Hackney Wick this Saturday night.

“Fabio Wardley I’ve sparred loads, Frazer I’ve sparred before and I just have admiration for both of them guys. They really did the belt justice that night,” Fisher said to Sky Sports.

“Frazer Clarke I think showed a lot of mettle in that fight. It’s really hard [to predict] because there were points where I think if someone just trained five per cent harder, or their fitness was one per cent better, it could have tipped the balance.

“I think Fabio’s got that danger streak in him where he can just unload and it could be over within the first round. But I think the nous and the knowhow is with Frazer Clarke.

“I think it would be Fabio short distance because he did knock him down, if not, if it’s going long, Frazer could beat him on points next time.

“It really is one of them fights you can’t really pick until the night and then you see how the fight unfolds.

“That’s why heavyweight boxing is so exciting.”

Wardley had to go to a dark place in their first fight and will likely have to do so again in a rematch.

“I left a piece of my soul in The O2 that night. I really do [think that],” Wardley told Sky Sports last month.

“I left at least a pint of blood in there or something as well because it was a messy affair. I left a bit of me in there that night. So The O2, that occasion will forever hold a massive part of me.”

The Ipswich man says he want to do it all again and create another instant classic that will have his name forever linked with Clarke’s in the history books.

“It’s almost poetic in a sense of like it’ll be historical for me [to fight Clarke again],” Wardley said. “It’ll be something for me to look back on and be proud of and look at and rewatch and go you know what, I did a hell of thing that night.

“That tag and that name that people give it makes every ounce of blood I shed worth it. Those fights, those moments, those occasions are what I live for.

“To be part of them, to be present, have my name in the mix with them, that’s what I want.”