ONE of the most thrilling fights of 2024 will soon be revisited.
Today, in the latest British Boxing Board of Control Circular, it was revealed an agreement had been reached for British heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley to defend his title for a second time against Frazer Clarke.
The official wording read: “Following agreement being reached by both parties, the above contest will be promoted on a date and venue to be advised.”
Back in March Wardley successfully retained his title by way of a split draw. The three scorecards read 114-113 (Wardley), 113-113 and 112-115 (Clarke). A rematch between the two will represent a second official defence of the title which Wardley won in October 2023 when he impressively stopped David Adeleye in seven rounds.
Clarke, however, was more than a match for Wardley but found himself on the canvas in round five. Two rounds later the 2020 super-heavyweight bronze medallist was deducted a point from referee Steve Gray for repeated low blows.
Regardless of the result it was a British title classic joining a long list of edge of the seat encounters for the historic Lord Lonsdale belt. The two heavyweights threw the kitchen sink at one another and absorbed multiple heavy shots that had everyone at the O2 Arena gripped from beginning to end.
News of a rematch will be music to the ears of boxing fans.
In other British title news Harry Scarff will make the first defence of his welterweight championship against Liam Taylor. The contest will be promoted by Nisse Sauerland indicating it will be a Wasserman card and shown live on Channel 5. Scarff won the title in November 2023 defeating Ekow Essuman but lost out when he stepped up in class against Ukrainian Karen Chukhadzhian in a world title eliminator three months ago.
The vacant British super-lightweight title will be contested by unbeaten pair Henry Turner and Jack Rafferty on October 5 at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena as part of the Nick Ball-Ronny Rios undercard. Previous champion Dalton Smith defended it on three occasions before vacating it to move on to the European and World scene.
Down at super-flyweight there will be an all-Liverpool battle when Marcel Braithwaite faces Brandon Daord in the maiden defence of his British title. The 30-year-old ventured to South Africa in April looking to win the IBO strap but was outgunned by Ricardo Malajika and did well to go the 12-round distance. Daord captured the English title last December beating Benn Norman on points.
The evergreen Jay Harris will defend his British and European flyweight straps against Conner Kelsall on a Queensberry Promotions card at a later date. Kelsall scored a bit of an upset against Belfast hope Conor Quinn in the Northern Irish capital seven weeks ago. Harris, a former world title challenger, has been fighting for major titles since his 10th fight and is one of the UK’s most underrated fighters.
