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boxing Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke finally do battle this weekend in a long overdue heavyweight showdown dubbed ‘Bad Blood’, with the
British and Commonwealth titles on the line. This is a much-anticipated domestic fight long in the making, with Wardley having first been ordered by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) to make the mandatory defence of the British title he has held since November 2022 last May before Clarke was controversially pulled out of the purse bid at late notice, sparking huge disappointment. Promoter Ben Shalom insisted then that he wanted the 2020 Olympic bronze medalist to get in at least one 10-rounder before making the step up to a full 12 against Wardley, having only competed in six and eight-rounders as a professional up until then, going past the second round just once. Clarke went on to outpoint heavyweight veteran Mariusz Wach in his first 10-rounder at York Hall last summer, three months later forcing the retirement of Dave Allen after six rounds despite being deducted points for repeated low blows. Now he gets his shot at fellow undefeated heavyweight Wardley, the British and WBA Continental heavyweight champion who also picked up the Commonwealth and WBO European belts with a seventh-round stoppage of another arch-rival in David Adeleye as the co-main event on the Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou undercard in
Saudi Arabia in October. The Dillian Whyte-managed Ipswich favourite is 17-0 with 16 knockouts at 29, with Clarke only 8-0 with six KOs owing to his lengthy amateur career and only turning pro in December 2021. Wardley vs Clarke takes place on Easter Sunday - March 31, 2024 - at the O2 Arena in
London. The undercard is due to start at around 6pm BST, with the main event expected to begin at approximately 10:30pm. As ever, those exact timings are subject to change. On Sunday’s undercard, Clarke’s fellow Tokyo 2020 Olympic medalist Ben Whittaker returns against Leon Willings and Florian Marku meets Chris Kongo in a potentially explosive welterweight showdown. Callum Simpson, mandatory challenger for Zak Chelli’s British super-middleweight title, battles Tanzania’s Dulla Mbabe and English cruiserweight champion Viddal Riley meets Mikael Lawal, who lost the British belt to Isaac Chamberlain in October. Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson: Date, purse, how to watch, rules and more Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson: Date, rules, purse, how to watch and more Francis Ngannou set for 'early' return to MMA as boxing career hangs by a thread Enter the AXA Startup Angel competition to win £25,000 Alen ‘The Savage’ Babic also looks to bounce back from his WBC bridgerweight title defeat by Lukasz Rozanski as he clashes with Steve Robinson. Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke Ben Whittaker vs Leon Willings Florian Marku vs Chris Kongo Viddal Riley vs Mikael Lawal Alen Babic vs Steve Robinson Callum Simpson vs Dulla Mbabe TV channel: In the
UK, Wardley vs Clarke is being shown live on Sky Sports. Coverage gets underway at 6pm on Sky Sports Action and 7pm on Sky Sports Main Event. Live stream: Those with a Sky Sports subscription can also catch the whole event live online via the Sky Go app. Live blog: You won’t miss a single second of Sunday’s fight card with Standard Sport’s live fight night blog. Clarke’s rather lacklustre pro career to date makes it somewhat difficult to judge exactly what level he’s at. He’s been beyond four rounds just twice so far, beating Wach in a very tedious contest and then overcoming ‘White Rhino’ Allen on a bizarre night in which ‘Big Fraz’ was almost deducted three points for low blows and appeared on the verge of disqualification. He faces a clear step up against Wardley, who is three years younger than Clarke at 29 but clearly much further along in his development having turned pro four years earlier. As such a fearsome knockout artist, Wardley has been past six rounds just once (barely, stopping Adeleye early in the seventh in Riyadh) himself so far. Some people have this pegged as a real 50/50 in an old-school battle between two hulking British heavyweights, but we see the harder-hitting Wardley as the clear standout favourite who will win by stoppage in the mid-to-late rounds. Wardley to win via knockout in the late rounds. The weigh-ins for Sunday night’s event take place on Saturday. Check back in then to see the results. Wardley to win: 4/9 Clarke to win: 7/4 Draw: 12/1 Wardley to win by KO/TKO: 8/11 Wardley to win by decision: 5/1 Clarke to win by KO/TKO: 3/1 Clarke to win by decision: 5/1 Odds via Sky Bet (subject to change). MORE ABOUT Have your say...