Who is Fabio Wardley? Meet the rising heavyweight star making his homecoming this weekend.

Fabio Wardley will take on Justis Huni to defend his WBA Interim heavyweight title at Portman Road on Saturday. 

This fight represents an opportunity for Wardley to establish himself as a world title contender in front of his home crowd against a tough opponent in Huni, who comes in at last minute to replace the injured Jarrell Miller. 

Here is what you need to know about the rise of Fabio Wardley ahead of his homecoming.

Who is Fabio Wardley?

• Nationality: United Kingdom
• Age: 30
• Height: 6’ 5”
• Stance: Orthodox

Wardley is a life-long Ipswich Town F.C fan who started boxing when he was 22 years old, having previously worked as a recruitment consultant in his hometown. 

His natural strength and aptitude for boxing meant that Wardley made fast progress, but he did not go the traditional route for a boxer of his ability. 

Alongside his job, he decided to take to the white-collar boxing world rather than the amateur route.

This was short-lived as Wardley made the transition to the professional game after only four white-collar fights

• Read next | Who is Justis Huni? 

What is Fabio Wardley’s record?

• Total fights: 19 
• Wins: 18 (17)
• Losses: 0
• Draws: 1
• Rounds: 62

Wardley made his debut in 2017 at the iconic York Hall, claiming his only career points win over Jakub Wojcik.

He made fast progress, scoring seven back-to-back knockout wins, four of which were in the first round, before taking possession of the English heavyweight title against Simon Vallily in 2020. 

The Ipswich native took a big step up in opposition, in only his eleventh fight, to take on the two-time world title challenger Eric Molina, who had been in the ring with both Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua. 

Molina was dispatched emphatically in the fifth round, and Wardley now had his eyes set on British honours. 

Wardley made quick work of Nathan Gorman in 2022, knocking him out in the third round to become the British heavyweight champion and set himself up for a fight with David Adeleye, another promising young British heavyweight who was the WBO European champion. 

The British, vacant Commonwealth and WBO European titles were on the line for this highly anticipated British showdown in Saudi Arabia. It was one of the toughest tests that Wardley had faced, but he still managed to pull through with a knockout win, landing a clean left hook on the chin of Adeleye coming out of a clinch. 

In a rivalry of diametrically opposed paths, Wardley was scheduled to fight Olympic bronze medallist Frazer Clarke. 

Wardley, who had no amateur experience and a handful of white-collar fights, versus Frazer Clarke, who had nearly 100 amateur bouts was a perfect match-up to test both men. 

On fight night, it was exactly as many expected, with Wardley loading up and looking for the lights-out shot, and Clarke boxing behind his well-sharpened jab. 

Wardley had the highlight of the fight, dropping Clarke in the seventh round, but Clarke’s superior boxing ability won him enough rounds for the judges to call a split decision draw. 

This, of course, meant a rematch was inevitable. The fans and fighters got exactly what they wanted, and seven months later, in December 2024 the fight was on. 

Wardley billed the fight ‘round thirteen’ of the first fight and proved himself right by knocking out Clarke 30 seconds into the first round. 

 

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