Ringside Report: Fabio Wardley & Frazer Clarke Fight to a Bloody Draw

Ringside Report: Fabio Wardley & Frazer Clarke Fight to a Bloody Draw

Nobody likes a draw, but maybe Sunday night’s truly incredible British and Commonwealth heavyweight fight between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke was one such fight where neither fighter deserved to lose.

It was one of those fights where it was an absolute pleasure to be ringside for. Both looked on the verge of going multiple times through the thoroughly absorbing contest. Wardley, fighting through a face masked in crimson, somehow survived apparent exhaustion multiple times and came roaring back and threatened to overwhelm the former Olympian. The fight had everything and much more. Momentum shifts. Blood, guts, and gore. An unforgettable spectacle.

Clarke looked the likely winner early on, with the bookies having Wardley odds on to be stopped after four rounds. The thudding heavy jab and right uppercut caused real damage, and Wardley didn’t seem to have an answer to the massive problem in front of him.

But Wardley miraculously not only stayed in the fight, he looked on the verge of victory at several points in a quite astonishing contest. Wardley, seemingly on the verge of defeat in the 5th, his face practically disintegrating in a sea of blood, in front of a vocal O2 Arena in London, suddenly turned the fight on its head. Clarke, under a desperate Wardley attack, found himself on the floor for the first time in his now nine-fight professional career. It came on the bell. It might just have saved him.

Clarke lost a point for a low blow in the 7th, which seemed incredibly harsh. But Wardley was now the fighter with everything apparently going for him. But that point deduction did hide a very good round for Clarke. But the loss of that point would ultimately cost Clarke the fight.

Wardley looked only a few punches away from defeat as the closing rounds saw no let-up in the action. But Clarke just couldn’t seem to find that extra energy he needed to finish the fight in his favour. Wardley probably saved his titles in the final rounds, with a superhuman late effort. While Clarke will regret not finishing the fight off when Wardley appeared ready to go. But nobody was certain who had won after twelve sensational heavyweight rounds.

The judges couldn’t split them. Wardley got it on one card by 114-113, one judge scored it to Clarke by a too-wide 115-112, but a third scorecard of 113-113 left both fighters retaining their unbeaten records, but Wardley retaining his heavyweight baubles.

Both fighters proved plenty, Wardley shouldn’t have to be that perceived white-collar imported imposter any longer. But Clarke showed enough to silence his many pre-fight doubters.

Boxxer must surely look to make the rematch. But I do wonder if the two fighters can give that type of effort to the same extreme. Both probably have left a piece of themselves in that London ring. The question must be will they ever be the same again?

But nobody who saw the fight either live or on their screens will forget what they saw on Sunday.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer