Frazer Clarke was left with a dent in the side of his head after a spectacular first-round knockout by Fabio Wardley in their rematch for the British heavyweight title.
The pair had gone the full 12 rounds in their initial fight at London’s O2 Arena in March, which ended in a draw, but this time in Riyadh – on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev’s controversial win over Dmitry Bivol – it was just a two-and-a-half-minute affair.
In the first round of their fight, Wardley rocked Clarke with a right overhand, then poured on a flurry of fast shots. A left hook and two right hooks sent Clarke sinking into the ropes and the Olympic bronze medallist couldn’t beat the referee’s count.
The vicious blows left a dent in the side of his head and his jaw askew, with promoter Frank Warren later saying Clarke suffered a suspected fractured cheekbone
The result meant Wardley took his record to 18-0-1 (17 KOs) as a pro, while Clarke is now 8-1-1 (6 KOs).
A delighted Wardley said in the ring afterwards: “I always know once I hurt someone, I can get rid of them. I went into the last fight with a couple of issues. We got them fixed up, we got the game plan right, we put it together, executed on the night.
“I took enough assessment from the first fight to know I have success in that war mode, we just needed to be a little bit sweeter, put it together a little bit nicer, set things up a little bit better, disguise them a little bit better. But I can’t help it, war by name, war by nature.
“Once I have my enemies hurt, there’s no help for them unless that bell comes.”
The dent in Clarke’s head was just one of several bizarre incidents on the night in Riyadh as, in addition to the scoring controversy in the main event, another undercard bout saw Ben Whittaker and Liam Cameron tumble over the top rope to end their fight.
Whittaker appeared to injure his leg when he and his fellow Briton crashed over the top rope and onto the ring apron in the fifth round, menaning a technical decision was declared and the judges’ scorecards were required.
Those scorecards after five rounds read: 58-57 to Whittaker; 58-57 to Cameron; and 58-58. As such, the fight ended in a split draw as Whittaker left Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Arena in a wheelchair.
Additional reporting by PA
