“Fabio unexpectedly became the champion”, — write: sport.ua
It is mentioned how Shakur Stevenson recently went to fight against the electrician Josh Pedley, who urgently replaced the American’s opponent. So this electrician had about as much experience as Wardle. In conversations about Fabio, the expression white collar is constantly used, that is, an office worker. Until the summer of 2018, the Briton had battles and victories just against the same office workers as himself – accountants, consultants, clerks. At that moment, the maximum ambition of the self-taught Wordley was to fight at a stadium in London or Manchester, at least in the undercard of some more or less significant boxing show.
We can say that Oleksandr Usyk changed Wardley’s career. Currently, there is no information from where the Ukrainian’s team found out about Wordley, but he was unexpectedly invited to the Usyk training camp for sparring fights as part of Oleksandr’s preparation for the fight with Tony Bellew. As Wordley himself said, he received a message on Facebook from a certain Vlad, who wrote in broken English: “Hello, Fabio. Come to sparring with Usyk, four weeks. We pay.”
Wordley thought it was a joke at first, but decided to answer anyway. “There was a problem – I have a job in the office, it is difficult for me to leave for four weeks. At work they said they wouldn’t give me time off, so I quit. If nothing had worked out with this Usyk camp, I would have neither money nor work,” says Wordley.
All this happened before the full-scale invasion of Russia, so Usyk held a camp in Ukraine, where Wordley came in 2018. It’s funny that Fabio was expecting some kind of royal reception from a well-known rival at that time, but it happened differently.
“Five days after that message on Facebook, I was already flying to Ukraine. It was funny because I expected to see cameras and maybe a limousine at the airport, and instead I was met by some guy who barely spoke English, and we went to the base in a rusty minivan.”
However, Wordley, despite the status of a semi-professional boxer at that time, stayed in Usyk’s camp for four weeks and helped prepare for the knockout of Tony Bellew.
“Actually everything was great. I was warmly received, and after sparring we had dinner together and talked. Great experience,” added the Briton.
Fabio liked everything, but he returned to his native Ipswich without a job and with only the money he earned in Usyk’s camp. However, Wordley completely switched to sports, and therefore decided to seriously take up the boxing career. Wordley was familiar with Dillian Whyte from sparring, who helped with promotion and fights at the highest level. Wordley fought and won on the undercard of Whyte’s show against Derek Chisora. With the help of Dillian, the super heavyweight gradually got stronger and stronger opponents, and already in 2020 he won his first title – the champion of England in super heavy weight.
If you look at the list of opponents of Wardley’s early fights, it is unlikely that even the experts will really say who all these people are. Fabio, as he dreamed, entered the ring in the undercard of fights in London, knocked out his opponents and moved on. For the first time, the wide boxing world could celebrate Wardley for himself in 2023, when the Briton got into the undercard of Tyson Fury’s fight against Francis Ngannou. And the opponent got a good one – the powerful David Adeleye.
Wardley, after several knockdowns, knocked him out in the seventh round, won a few more minor titles and got the opportunity to headline a not-top, but still prestigious boxing night. In the spring of 2024, Wardley fought Fraser Clarke to a controversial draw. Both boxers had their good moments throughout the 12 rounds, with Fabio knocking Clark down once. However, such a draw called for a second bout, which took place in Saudi Arabia, where Wardley knocked out Clarke in the first round. Frazier had a fractured jaw and facial bone, and Wordley began to gradually prepare for fights for the main titles.
After Clark, the Briton knocked out Justice Hooney and became the owner of the WBA interim heavyweight title. In this whole story, we can talk about Wardley’s hard work, but we should not forget about the element of luck. Who knows where Fabio would be now if it weren’t for the offer from Usyk’s team. Or, for example, Joseph Parker’s decision to take on Wardley.
The New Zealander, having the status of a mandatory contender, could sit quietly and wait for the decision of Usyk, who was recovering after Daniel Dubois. But Parker, in search of boxing activity, agreed to fight Wordley. Which Joseph successfully lost, and also organized a scandal with the alleged use of cocaine. And Wordley, whose dreams were limited to undercard fights against no-names a few years ago, turned out to be a contender for all heavyweight titles.
There are doubts that this fight will take place (the material was written before Usyk’s decision to give up the title, Wardley is already the champion – ed.), because Usyk will not receive financial benefits, but here we are talking more about Wardley’s unusual path to fame and money. We will not go too far into the examination of Wardley’s class, but the super heavyweight somewhat resembles Deontay Wilder. Not a very trained boxer, but he has a powerful punch. Not Deontay’s, sure, but enough to knock Clark out with one punch or, obviously losing a fight with Parker, turn things around with one or two pinpoint shots. Undoubtedly, according to his boxing class, Usyk is three heads higher than Wardley, but the persistence and work of the Briton deserve respect.
“I sparred with him several times, and he was my toughest opponent in my career. Usyk can hit you eight different times in eight different places and not even slow down. The main thing about Usyk is its incredible pace. He just doesn’t stop, he hangs and hangs, hits and hits you. Are you already tired or not tired – he will sneeze at all. He is an incredible boxer,” Wordley said.
Both Wordley himself and everyone around him understand the difference in class with Usyk. Fabio’s danger lies in his powerful punch and belief in his own strength. The boxer’s history shows that this can be an important factor. And even if the fight with Usyk does not take place, the career of the super heavyweight is already worth the attention of fans.