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How Fabio Wardley went from white-collar boxing to the brink of an undisputed title shot
Fabio Wardley’s story so far has been one of fighting against the odds to try and achieve his dream of becoming a heavyweight champion of the world.
He has well and truly come up the hard way, toiling away on small hall shows, winning national and regional titles to establish himself without the benefit of an amatuer background.
The Brit now stands just one fight away from having the opportunity to fulfil all of his ambitions. All he needs to do is beat Joseph Parker, a former world champion and current WBO interim titlist, to become the mandatory challenger for Oleksandr Usyk’s undisputed heavyweight titles.
So, in case you missed it, here is how Wardley went from having no amateur fights to being just one fight away from a heavyweight title shot.
White collar shows
Wardley, going against all traditional boxing wisdom, has never had a licensed amateur bout – only putting on a pair of gloves for the first time when he was 21.
He also had a separate career alongside his boxing training, working as a recruiter in London, which meant he couldn’t fully commit to being an amateur boxer.
But he still had the desire to fight, and as so many career professionals do, he decided to try a white-collar show.
White-collar boxing is unlicensed boxing for complete beginners with other careers who want to get trained and box at a special event or raise money for charity.
Wardley had only four of these white-collar fights, winning them all before he decided to take the leap and become a professional boxer – which would have required an incredible amount of self-confidence or borderline delusion with such little experience.
Professional debut
Wardley made his professional debut against Jakob Wojcik at York Hall in 2017. This would be the Brit’s only decision victory of his career so far.
Wardley recalled the fight and the surprising reason why, despite having his opponent down in the first round, he did not go for the knockout as we have seen him do so effectively since.
“My debut was a southpaw,” Wardley told The Stomping Ground. “Unbeknownst to me, I turned up on the day and they were like ‘yeah he’s a southpaw’. I was like ‘Great, I don’t know anything about this, I’ve barely been boxing you idiots, let alone a southpaw.’
“I did get him down in the first round, I think, but he was a tough Eastern European. He got up and started punching himself in the head, and I thought, ‘You can f*** off, I’m leaving you alone, fella.
“I just stuck to boxing and moving the whole round. I’m not f***ing up my debut for some nutcase like you, you can go away.”
- Read next | I've shared the ring with Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte but nobody was stronger than the man I beat twice
Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Taking on big challenges
Wardley knew he had no time to waste in establishing himself on the British heavyweight scene and claimed the English title against Simon Vallily in only his ninth fight via third-round KO.
He then took a big, yet calculated risk in facing two-time world title challenger Eric Molina, who had shared the ring with both Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder – in only his 11th fight.
Despite a marked step up in quality of opposition, Wardley did not make it look that way as he comfortably knocked Molina out inside three rounds, landing a vicious right hook from the ropes to topple the American and boost his stock.
It was the treasured Lonsdale belt in Wardley’s sights next, taking on Nathan Gorman, who had only been defeated by Daniel Dubois in 20 fights.
Wardley came through with flying colours, knocking down Gorman twice in the second round and once in the third before his corner threw in the towel, getting Gorman out of there two rounds earlier than Dubois managed three years prior.
Riyadh Season beckoned, and a chance to perform in front of Saudi boxing boss Turki Alalshikh. Wardley booked himself in for a fight against another highly touted prospect in David Adeleye, in defence of his British title while also hoping to add the Commonwealth and WBO European straps to his collection.
Adeleye pushed Wardley further than anyone before, but the Ipswich-based fighter rose to the occasion and displayed superior boxing ability to be ahead on all three scorecards before he stopped his rival in the seventh round to unlock more lucrative opportunities.
Announcing himself on the world scene
Sensing an opportunity to prove himself against a man with a world-class amateur pedigree, Wardley took on Olympic bronze medallist Frazer Clarke in a fight of the year contender in 2024 to defend his three trinkets.
The pair threw the kitchen sink at one another over 12 rounds, and Wardley secured a pivotal knockdown in the fifth round, displaying an obvious power and aggression advantage that was overwhelming Clarke’s more polished style.
His ability to launch attacks from unorthodox angles with knockout power was something Clarke had yet to face, and the fight ended in a split draw.
The rematch was made seven months later and was billed ‘Round 13’ with Wardley promising to pick up where he left off and knock Clarke out.
He more than delivered on this promise and produced one of the knockouts of the year to demolish Clarke inside one round, putting the heavyweight division on notice and proving he was ready for a step onto the world scene after just 19 fights.
After climbing the WBA rankings, Wardley had his opportunity to claim their tertiary interim title and was initially scheduled to face Jarrell Miller. The American withdrew due to injury, leaving Wardley to face young Australian contender Justis Huni instead in a homecoming show at Portman Road in June.
Through the first nine rounds against Huni, it looked to be too much for Wardley, who was getting comfortably outboxed by the Aussie, only winning one round on two of the scorecards.
But Wardley’s threat does not lie in his technical ability, but instead, his fight-ending power, which he proved stays with him into the latter stages of a contest.
Huni found himself floored by a freakish right hand from Wardley, and was unable to beat the referee’s count, crowning Wardley as the WBA interim champion and on the cusp of the biggest fights in the division.
Leigh Dawney/Queensberry
Fighting for a shot at undisputed
Having raced past all the opposition that has been thrown at him, Wardley is now trying position himself as well as he can for a shot at a heavyweight world title
With all the titles tied up by the undisputed champion, Oleksandr Usyk, Wardley has put himself up against the current mandatory challenger, Joseph Parker, in what will be by far the toughest fight of his career.
Parker has seen it all – he has been a world champion, been dropped, stopped and come back from it all to put himself back in with a chance at becoming a two-time champion, so he will not willingly give up what he believes he has done all the hard work to earn.
But Wardley, even when his back is against the wall, has the power and the never-say-die attitude to stay in the fight and give himself the best chance of completing a story that began 10 years ago as a recruiter on the unlicensed boxing circuit.
Watch Parker vs. Wardley live only on DAZN
Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley fight this Saturday, October 25, to become the WBO mandatory challenger to Oleksandr Usyk. Watch the fight and undercard live and exclusive on DAZN PPV.
