Frazer Clarke left with dent in head after sickening KO by Fabio Wardley
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Frazer Clarke ended up with a noticeable dent on the side of his head following a stunning first-round knockout at the hands of Fabio Wardley during their rematch for the British heavyweight championship.
The two fighters previously battled for the entire 12 rounds in their first match at the O2 Arena in London back in March, resulting in a draw. However, this time in Riyadh, during the undercard of Artur Beterbiev's disputed victory against Dmitry Bivol, the fight lasted only two and a half minutes.
In the opening round of their match, Wardley stunned Clarke with a powerful right hand, followed by a barrage of quick punches. A left hook and a pair of right hooks drove Clarke back against the ropes, and the Olympic bronze medalist was unable to get up before the referee completed the count.
The brutal punches resulted in a noticeable dent in the side of his head, and his jaw was out of alignment. Promoter Frank Warren later mentioned that Clarke likely had a fractured cheekbone.
As a result, Wardley's professional record improved to 18 wins, no losses, and 1 draw, with 17 of those victories coming by knockout. Meanwhile, Clarke's record now stands at 8 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw, with 6 of his wins by knockout.
After the fight, a pleased Wardley shared his thoughts in the ring: "I can always tell when I’ve landed a solid hit; that's when I know I can take them out. I had a few challenges going into the last match, but we addressed those, nailed down our strategy, and really pulled it all together during the fight."
"From my first fight, I learned a lot about what works in that competitive environment. We just needed to refine our approach, make our strategies a bit more polished, and improve our setups and deceptions. Yet, I can't escape my instinctual drive; I'm all about the battle, both in name and by nature."
"When I’ve caused my enemies some pain, they have no hope for rescue unless the bell rings."
The indentation on Clarke's head was just one of many strange happenings during the evening in Riyadh. Along with the scoring dispute in the main fight, another match on the undercard saw Ben Whittaker and Liam Cameron spill over the top rope, bringing their fight to a sudden halt.
Whittaker seemed to hurt his leg when he and his British opponent went tumbling over the top rope and onto the edge of the ring in the fifth round. As a result, a technical decision was made, and the judges' scorecards had to be consulted.
After five rounds, the judges had the scorecards showing: 58-57 in favor of Whittaker, 58-57 for Cameron, and one judge scoring it 58-58. This resulted in a split draw, and Whittaker was seen leaving the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia in a wheelchair.
Further coverage provided by PA.
