IPSWICH, England – Fabio Wardley scored a stunning comeback win last night at Portman Road, the home of his favorite soccer team Ipswich Town FC.
The home favorite took on Australia’s Justis Huni in front of 20,000 fans and certainly put on a show. It wasn’t just a come from behind win; Wardley wasn’t in the fight whatsoever. He was being outclassed by Huni, a former standout amateur, and it looked like it wouldn’t be long before Huni finished the job, or Wardley’s corner saved him for another day. The battered and bruised Wardley came out for the tenth round, threw a hit-and-hope right hand, and that’s all she wrote. Huni was down and out, and Wardley picked up a huge win and the WBA interim heavyweight title in front of his home crowd.
“Did everyone have a good time? Were you entertained?” said Wardley as he sat down for the post-fight press conference. “Yeah, look, I'm not the finished article. I haven't got everything nailed down, everything perfect, everything all ticked off. I said to Frank [Warren] in the ring, ‘I'm still very much learning on the job,’ which is a funny thing to say 20 fights in and as interim [WBA] world champion. But I am very much.
“Justis [Huni] has more amateur fights than I've had fights [amateur and pro]. He has been boxing since he was eight years old. I've been boxing for about eight, nine years. So, yeah, look, these are the ways I've got to learn and these fights make me better. Like we saw how much I took from the first Frazer [Clarke] fight and how I took that into the second one. That's what I'll do with this one. I haven't got to rematch Justis, but the lessons learned in this fight, against someone with the skills, attributes, hand speed… that’s stuff I'll take and learn and build on.”
This isn’t the first time Wardley has had to go to the well against a standout amateur. He first faced Frazer Clarke in 2024 and participated in one of the best heavyweight humdingers you will see. Wardley again could not match his opponent for skill, but grinded out a result by turning the bout into a tear up. The contest was ruled a draw, but the fight most certainly took more out of Wardley than Clarke. His face was again bloodied and bruised, and he himself admitted that he couldn’t have too many fights like that in his career. Seven months later he faced Clarke again and ironed him out inside a round.
Wardley was asked how many fights he wants to have like the one against Huni.
“I think that's it, I think I'm good, I think I've had my fill,” Wardley replied. “A couple more of the last one [against Frazer Clarke] with the first-round knockout, I'll take those every day. Yeah, the game's the game. There are going to be moments where I'm going to have to grind it out like that. I do not want to keep taking years off my life like this.
“Maybe I have a screw or something loose. But I do absolutely love it. The occasion, the moment, the buzz, the build, there's nothing better. It is intoxicating. It very much is. But yeah, maybe I'll keep my hands up a little bit more.”
Wardley’s mother was not a fan of his first contest against Clarke and she was in attendance again last night alongside Wardley’s partner, who is pregnant with their child.
“I'm sure she'll be giving me a bit of a telling off tomorrow as well,” Wardley said. “Especially considering she was sat next to my missus – and she'll have a go at me for all the stress I put her under. But it's all fun and games, isn't it? It's all for the love of the sport. Honestly, I absolutely adore this sport. It's changed my life and very much brought me to a place that I never thought I would get to; heights I never thought I would reach.
“I got into the sport for the love of it and just thought, ‘Yeah, look, have a crack, give it a go.’ And somehow, fucking hell, we pulled off Portman Road. I don't know what's going on. I was in the ring saying to people, ‘What are we doing? How have we got here? What is going on?’ But yeah, look, I'm just looking forward to many more nights like this.”
