British heavyweight boxer Frazer Clarke has spoken ill of his upcoming opponent, Fabio Wardley, calling his fighting partner a “delusional”, “c***”, “b***”.
Clarke and Wardley will collide in a ‘Bad Blood’ showdown for the British and Commonwealth titles on Sunday March 31 at London’s O2, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Current champion Wardley is on an incredible 16-fight KO streak and returns to the ring after dismantling David Adeleye on the Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou undercard on October 28 in Saudi Arabia.
However, Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Clarke, who is just eight fights into his promising professional career, has downplayed Wardley’s achievements, calling him “delusional”, “c***”, “b*** “.
When asked what three words she would use to describe Wardley, Clarke said: “Delirious, c***, c***.” While Wardley called Clarke: ‘smart, hard-working and smooth.’
*Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke will take place on Bank Holiday Sunday, March 31, live on Sky Sports from the O2 Arena. Watch the full episode here.*
British boxer Frazer Clarke has spoken ill of his next opponent Fabio Wardley
Wardley will put his British and Commonwealth titles on the line against Clarke on March 31.
The two were then asked to describe themselves, and Clarke said it was: “Vicious, driven and hungry.” While Clarke said he was: “Tested, resilient and powerful.”
The two British stars will settle their dispute at London’s O2 Arena on Sunday March 31, with the likes of Viddal Riley, Ben Whittaker and Callum Simpson on the card.
A possible heavyweight clash between the two British stars had been discussed for last year after the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) officially ordered the pair to meet on April 13, 2023.
The board also issued a notice, ordering the fight to take place by the end of September 2023. However, his team withdrew Clarke from bidding, leaving the 32-year-old heavyweight furious.
Boxxer CEO and Clarke promoter Ben Shalom took to social media to say that they had offered Wardley the highest salary of his career and decided to walk away when he turned down the deal.
However, Wardley snapped back at Shalom, saying: “No they haven’t, they offered me less than what I got in my last fight.” Tell Ben/BOXXER to post the offered number and I’ll post my latest wallet bill.
Shalom went on to say that he was looking forward to Clarke having a 10-round warm-up fight before moving on to the 12-round British title fight, stating that he did not feel comfortable “throwing” the heavyweight into a fight of that magnitude.
He said: ‘The reason we removed him from the offer is because he has fought (scheduled) six rounds so far. His last fight was two rounds. We’re not going to launch it. (If these were auctions), you would have to take a 12-rounder potentially within three weeks, with no preparation.
The pair were scheduled to face each other last year, but Wardley ended up fighting David Adeleye while Clarke fought David Allen.
‘It’s not that he’s not going to beat Fabio Wardley, he would have already done it in his first fight. But he’s not going to fight a 12-round bout in three weeks. That is why we have made the offer. First he will do a 10-round fight and we have made an offer to Fabio to accept the fight (after).
‘It’s better for him to have a 10-round fight before fighting his first 12-round fight. Anyone who has ever put on a pair of gloves or trained a fighter will tell you that you don’t go from a six-round fight to a 12-round fight overnight, regardless of the quality of the opponent.’
Without reaching any agreement, both fighters went their separate ways. However, both Wardley and Clarke made it clear that they wanted to fight each other later.
As a result, Clarke had a ringside seat in Saudi Arabia to watch Wardley retain his British Heavyweight title and win the WBO European titles and the vacant Commonwealth titles against David Adeleye before calling out his fellow Brit.
Shortly after that fight, Wardley and Clarke returned to the negotiating table and agreed to fight on March 31, officially announcing their clash on the Joshua Buatsi vs. Dan Azeez undercard in London.
Viddal Riley will return to action against Mikael Lawal following a points victory over Nathan Quarless to capture the English cruiserweight title last September at York Hall.
While future boxing superstar Ben Whittaker returns to action after becoming a social media sensation with a knockout victory over Khalid Graidia on the Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez undercard.
Future boxing superstar Ben Whittaker returns to action after becoming a social media sensation with a knockout victory over Khalid Graidia on the Joshua Buatsi vs Dan Azeez undercard.
Viddal Riley will return to action against Mikael Lawal following a points victory over Nathan Quarless to capture the English cruiserweight title last September at York Hall.
Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke takes place on Bank Holiday Sunday, March 31, live on Sky Sports from the O2 Arena. Tickets are available from Boxxer.com.