Fabio Wardley delivered more convincing evidence of his punching power to knock out Justis Huni in Round 10 when he was losing the fight in front of his home fans in Ipswich, England, on Saturday.
Huni dominated the fight until Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) landed a huge right hand to the jaw that left the Australian flat on his back to thrill approximately 20,000 of Wardley’s fans at the outdoor soccer stadium Portman Road. Despite being behind on the scorecards and looking set for defeat, Wardley produced the dynamite finish he needed to take a big step towards challenging for a world heavyweight title in 2026.
Huni (12-1, 7 KOs) looked like he was cruising to a points win as his punches proved too sharp and educated for Wardley. But one punch changed everything after 1.42 seconds of Round 10.
Oleksandr Usyk, the WBC, WBA and WBO world heavyweight champion, faces IBF titleholder Daniel Dubois to decide the undisputed champion at Wembley Stadium, London, on July 19 and Wardley, after one punch, is now one fight away from a world title shot, probably in 2026. Victory made Wardley the mandatory challenger for Usyk’s WBA belt, however he may have to face the winner of the fight between Bulgarian veteran Kubrat Pulev and Michael Hunter, from the United States, before he gets a first world title shot.
“I don’t profess to be a Usyk or a Huni with all the skills but I do know how to dig deep, dig down on the gum shield and get that result,” Wardley said.
“I should have performed better in some of those rounds and sometimes you have to find something different to win. We got the win. He’s a great fighter but I found a way.”
Said Huni: “It only takes one second to switch off and that’s what happened.”
Wardley hopes to become the next biggest thing in his hometown of Ipswich following musician Ed Sheeran and Ipswich Town, the soccer team relegated from the English Premier League last month and, unlike the soccer team, he is on the up.
Wardley’s rise to the heavyweight elite has been quick. After just four amateur bouts, he left his job as a recruitment consultant in the health and social care sector to focus on his professional boxing career in 2017. Wardley had just four white-collar boxing bouts as a novice amateur before turning professional, yet he finds himself on the brink of a world title shot.
Wardley, who had a brief spell in Ipswich Town’s youth team as a teenager, began the fight as the WBA’s No. 1 contender behind Pulev after his two fights with English rival Frazer Clarke elevated his career to a new level last year. Their first fight ended in a points draw after a brutal encounter that left Wardley on a diet of ice cream the week after because his jaw hurt so much. But in the rematch in October, Wardley dispatched Clarke inside a round with a fractured jaw and a broken cheekbone.
For the second successive fight, six-foot-five Wardley, 30, whose partner is due to give birth next week, showed what a dangerous puncher he is. Afterwards, his promoter Frank Warren compared him to former WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Unlike Wardley, six-foot-four Huni had a distinguished amateur career that saw him win a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships but his professional career was slow moving until it gathered pace last year.
Huni, 26, from Brisbane, showed that boxing pedigree in an authoritative first round but Wardley was better in Round 2 behind his jab.
The Australian put together some neat combinations in Round 3 before Wardley started the fourth aggressively, yet the Englishman was unable to sustain the momentum.
Huni’s superior experience, mostly built from his amateur career, became really apparent in the first half of the fight and the Australian was too cute for the hometown hero. In Round 5 Huni repeatedly landed quality shots at close range, including a left hook late in the round.
British and Commonwealth champion Wardley, whose manager is former title challenger Dillian Whyte and who has sparred Usyk, was behind by the halfway mark as Huni’s punches proved too sharp for the Ipswich native to avoid.
Huni landed a brilliant overhand right in the sixth as he increasingly became dominant. In Round 7, Wardley looked momentarily troubled from a jab as Huni increased his lead.
Wardley was on the back foot in Round 8 as Huni landed a big left hand that left Wardley chasing a KO to win.
And he delivered it, uncorking a short right hand in Round 10 that sent Huni crashing on to his back and counted out.
Wardley might not have the same amateur pedigree and boxing education as others, but what he again showed is the power that’s inching him closer to a world title shot.
Source: espn.com