- Fabio Wardley will face Frazer Clarke for the British title on March 31 at O2 Arena
- The heavyweights had been ordered to face one another by the BBBofC last year
Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke will settle their feud at the O2 Arena in London on Sunday, March 31.
A potential heavyweight clash between the two British stars had been mooted for last year after the pair were officially ordered to meet by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) on April 13, 2023.
The board also issued a notice, ordering the fight to take place by the end of September 2023. But, Clarke pulled out of the purse bids.
Ben Shalom took to social media to say they had offered Wardley a career-high payday and that they decided to walk away when he rejected the deal.
However, Wardley snapped back at the BOXXER promoter, saying: ‘No they haven’t, they offered me less than I got for my last fight. Tell Ben/BOXXER to post the number offered and I’ll post my last purse invoice.’
Fabio Wardley will put his British and Commonwealth Heavyweight titles on the line against Frazer Clarke on March 31
The pair had been slated to meet last year but ended up Wardley instead fought David Adeleye while Clarke fought David Allen
Shalom went on to say he was eager for Clarke to have a 10-round warm-up fight before going into the 12-round British title bout.
He said: ‘The reason why we pulled him out the bid is he’s fought [scheduled] six-rounders up until now. His last fight went two rounds. We’re not going to sling him in. [If it went to purse bids] you’d have to be taking a 12-rounder potentially in three weeks’ time, with no preparation.
‘It’s not that he won’t beat Fabio Wardley, he’d beat Fabio Wardley on his first fight. But he’s not going to be fighting a 12-rounder in three weeks’ time. So that’s why we’ve made the offer. He will be doing a 10-rounder first and we’ve made an offer to Fabio to take the fight [after].
‘It’s best for him to have a 10-rounder before he fights his first 12-rounder. Everyone that’s ever put on a pair of gloves, or ever trained a fighter will tell you, you don’t go from a six-rounder to a 12-rounder overnight, regardless of the quality of opponent.’
With no agreement made, both fighters went their separate ways. However, both boxers made it clear they were eager to fight further down the line.
As a result, Clarke sat ringside in Saudi Arabia to watch Wardley retain his British heavyweight title and win the WBO European and vacant Commonwealth titles against David Adeleye before calling his fellow Brit out.
BOXXER have now confirmed that the pair will face each other at the end of March to settle their differences.
