Fabio Wardley defends his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles in a hotly-anticipated clash with Frazer Clarke tonight.
This is a fight long in the making, with Wardley having first been ordered by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) to make the mandatory defence of the British title he has held since November 2022 last May before Clarke was controversially pulled out of the purse bids at late notice, sparking huge disappointment.
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Promoter Ben Shalom insisted then that he wanted the 2020 Olympic bronze medalist to get in at least one 10-rounder before making the step up to a full 12 against Wardley, having only competed in six and eight-rounders as a professional up until then, going past the second round just once.
Clarke went on to outpoint heavyweight veteran Mariusz Wach in his first 10-rounder at York Hall last summer, three months later forcing the retirement of Dave Allen after six rounds despite being deducted points for repeated low blows.
Now he gets his shot at fellow undefeated heavyweight Wardley, the British and WBA Continental heavyweight champion who also picked up the Commonwealth and WBO European belts with a seventh-round stoppage of another arch-rival in David Adeleye as the co-main event on the Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou undercard in Saudi Arabia in October.
The Dillian Whyte-managed Ipswich favourite is 17-0 with 16 knockouts at 29, with Clarke only 8-0 with six KOs owing to his lengthy amateur career and only turning pro in December 2021.
Wardley vs Clarke date, start time, venue and ring walks
Wardley vs Clarke takes place tonight on Easter Sunday - March 31, 2024 - at the O2 Arena in London.
The undercard is due to start at around 5pm BST, with the main event ring walks expected to begin at approximately 8:30pm.
As ever, those exact timings are subject to change.
Wardley vs Clarke fight card/undercard in full
On tonight’s undercard, Clarke’s fellow Tokyo 2020 Olympic medalist Ben Whittaker returns against Leon Willings and Florian Marku meets Chris Kongo in a potentially explosive welterweight showdown.
Callum Simpson, mandatory challenger for Zak Chelli’s British super-middleweight title, battles Tanzania’s Dulla Mbabe and English cruiserweight champion Viddal Riley meets Mikael Lawal, who lost the British belt to Isaac Chamberlain in October.
Alen ‘The Savage’ Babic also looks to bounce back from his WBC bridgerweight title defeat by Lukasz Rozanski as he clashes with Steve Robinson.
Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke
Ben Whittaker vs Leon Willings
Florian Marku vs Chris Kongo
Viddal Riley vs Mikael Lawal
Alen Babic vs Steve Robinson
Callum Simpson vs Dulla Mbabe
How to watch Wardley vs Clarke
TV channel: In the UK, Wardley vs Clarke is being shown live tonight on Sky Sports. Coverage gets underway at 6pm on Sky Sports Action and 7pm on Sky Sports Main Event.
Live stream: Those with a Sky Sports subscription can also catch the whole event live online via the Sky Go app.
Live blog: You won’t miss a single second of tonight’s fight card with Standard Sport’s live fight night blog.
Wardley vs Clarke prediction
Clarke’s rather lacklustre pro career to date makes it somewhat difficult to judge exactly what level he’s at.
He’s been beyond four rounds just twice so far, beating Wach in a very tedious contest and then overcoming ‘White Rhino’ Allen on a bizarre night in which ‘Big Fraz’ was almost deducted three points for low blows and appeared on the verge of disqualification.
He faces a clear step up against Wardley, who is three years younger than Clarke at 29 but clearly much further along in his development having turned pro four years earlier.
As such a fearsome knockout artist, Wardley has been past six rounds just once (barely, stopping Adeleye early in the seventh in Riyadh) himself so far.
Some people have this pegged as a real 50/50 in an old-school battle between two hulking British heavyweights, but we see the harder-hitting Wardley as the clear standout favourite who will win by stoppage in the mid-to-late rounds.
Wardley to win via knockout in the late rounds.
Wardley vs Clarke weigh-in results
Wardley tipped the scales at Saturday’s weigh-in at 243lbs, with the heavier Clarke coming in at 266lbs.
Wardley vs Clarke betting odds
Wardley to win: 4/9
Clarke to win: 7/4
Draw: 12/1
Wardley to win by KO/TKO: 8/11
Wardley to win by decision: 5/1
Clarke to win by KO/TKO: 3/1
Clarke to win by decision: 5/1
