Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke tonight meet again in a boxing ring for another instalment of their all-British heavyweight title clash in Saudi Arabia.
The bout forms one of the chief support acts for the undisputed light-heavyweight blockbuster between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in Riyadh, but could well end up stealing the whole show.
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Just over six months have passed now since the duo first met in an unforgettable showdown at the O2 Arena, when Clarke was put down in the fifth round and also had a point deducted in a pulsating back-and-forth tussle. Blood from a nasty nose injury also splattered all over Wardley’s face as the big-hitting duo continued to exchange huge blows in an all-out war that went the full 12 rounds.
It was an extremely difficult fight to score, with a crucial third card of 113-113 ruling the contest a split-decision draw - seeing Wardley retain his British, Commonwealth, WBA Continental and European heavweight belts - after one judge had opted for a narrow Wardley win and the other a wider Clarke victory, despite the knockdown and point deduction.
Now they prepare to do it all over again, with Wardley, 29, determined to deliver a more decisive performance this time around after the only slight blot on his otherwise pristine professional copybook that has seen him notch 17 wins and 16 by knockout, including against David Adeleye in another all-British affair in Riyadh last October.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Clarke, meanwhile, will be desperate to prove that his best chance to beat Wardley has not already gone as the 33-year-old ‘Big Fraz’ looks for a statement victory to propel his short-lived professional career to a new level.
Wardley vs Clarke 2 fight date and venue
The fight takes place tonight on Saturday October 12, 2024 at the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia - part of the latest high-profile Riyadh Season event in boxing.
Wardley vs Clarke 2 fight time and ring walks
Wardley vs Clarke 2 is on the undercard of Beterbiev vs Bivol and has co-main event billing, ahead of the fearsome Jai Opetaia defending his IBF cruiserweight title against British challenger Jack Massey and the return of Chris Eubank Jr.
With ring walks for the main event expected to get underway at around 11pm BST, 6pm ET and 3pm PT, an early guess would be that Wardley vs Clarke 2 is underway sometime around 9:30pm BST. However, much depends on the length of the preceding fights.
The main undercard itself is scheduled to commence at 7pm BST, which is 2pm ET and 11am PT in the United States. The fights begin from 5pm BST, 12pm ET and 9am PT.
How to watch Wardley vs Clarke 2
TV channel and live stream: The event is being shown live in the UK on DAZN pay-per-view, at a cost of £19.99 with a free seven-day trial included.
You can also buy it via TNT Sports Box Office for £19.99 or Sky Sports Box Office for £19.95.
Live blog: Follow live round-by-round coverage of every bout on Saturday evening with Standard Sport’s fight night blog.
Wardley vs Clarke 2 undercard
Beterbiev-Bivol headlines the show, supported by Wardley-Clarke, Opetaia-Massey and the return of Eubank Jr, who competes for the first time in 13 months as he battles Kamil Szeremeta of Poland.
Skye Nicolson also faces a tough mandatory defence of her WBC featherweight title against Raven Chapman, while Ben Whittaker steps up against Liam Cameron and Saudi boxer Mohammed Alakel makes his professional debut against Colombian Jesus Gonzalez.
Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol
Jai Opetaia vs Jack Massey
Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke 2
Chris Eubank Jr vs Kamil Szeremeta
Skye Nicolson vs Raven Chapman
Ben Whittaker vs Liam Cameron
Mohammed Alakel vs Jesus Gonzalez
Marco Maric vs Christian Flores
Wardley vs Clarke 2 prediction
This fight will have to truly go some to match what we saw in March, when both men left everything inside the ring in a truly titanic battle than many instantly labelled as the best British heavyweight title bout of all time.
Clarke was the underdog for many in that first showdown, showing superb powers of recovery to respond to being floored to come back and even convince one judge that he’d won it.
Wardley insists he has no intention of letting the fight go the distance this time, confidently stating that he will learn from his mistakes and showcase a more ruthless streak in the rematch.
Those are ominous words from the Ipswich heavyweight, who has experience of fighting in Riyadh after beating Adeleye on the Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou undercard last year and is now part of Frank Warren’s stable after signing a multi-fight promotional deal with Queensberry back in August.
Wardley to win by knockout.
Wardley vs Clarke 2 weigh-in results
Clarke tipped the scales at 271.3lbs at Friday’s weigh-in, while Wardley came in much lighter at 241.6lbs.
Wardley vs Clarke 2 odds
Wardley to win: 4/6
Clarke to win: 6/5
Draw: 16/1
Wardley to win on points or by decision: 13/5
Wardley to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification: 7/4
Clarke to win on points or by decision: 7/2
Clarke to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification: 13/5
