Fabio Wardley was recently crowned British heavyweight champion after a fascinating three-round clash with Nathan Gorman at Wembley Arena, with Whyte-Franklin as the main card for the night.
Co-featuring the DAZN’s Dillian Whyte vs. Jermaine Franklin show, Fabio Wardley, 27, outmatched Gorman when the latter’s corner threw in the towel in the third round, giving Wardley the win and the vacant British heavyweight title at London’s Wembley Arena. The belt was vacant after being relinquished by Joe Joyce in pursuit of world titles.
Wardley seemed to start the scuffle initially, but all the impressive work came from Gorman in return. He was able to overwhelm Wardley with a barge of hooks followed by a decent uppercut in round one.
Wardley ran into trouble in the second round when his nose was broken, getting startled twice. But he fought hard and knocked Gorman down three times before Gorman’s corner threw in the towel.
The second round was one of the most exciting ones to witness. Gorman was on top early when he landed hard and rocked Wardley with a nose strike. Then, he hurt him again with a right before Wardley, with blood running down his nose, started dominating.
This is how he breaks the whole episode down in his own words,
“I was hurt in the second. Nathan is good. But I am used to taking big shots. So, it is no problem to me. I just bite down on my gumshield and get the job done.
He further goes on,
“I want to be headlining shows, 2023 is the year of Fabio Wardley.”
The adversity ignited a fire in Wardley, resulting in a spree of huge rights. Suddenly, Gorman goes back to the ropes, and a big right drops him on the floor.
Wardley was back on him when he got up, landing big rights again. Despite facing a flurry of punches from Gorman, Wardley ended up with another right, sending him down again, though he somehow made it to the next round.
Gorman tried to fight his way back into the match in the third but had no answer when Wardley picked up the pace again. One of his right hands knocked Gorman off balance, and another right hand dropped him for the third time.
Beating the count, Gorman tried to stay on his feet to avoid trouble, but that was when the towel came in from Gorman’s corner.
An overwhelmed Wardley later said,
“It’s been a big old journey, and so far, so good.”
Hinting at his association with Dillian Whyte, he continued:
I come from the Dillian Whyte school of hard knocks. I’m used to taking big shots. I’ve had plenty of hard scraps, so that is nothing new to me.”
The win extended Wardley’s unbeaten streak to 15.
Following suit with Whyte and other fighters above him in Britain chasing or holding world titles, a few defenses will likely be the way forward before he contends for a European title.
Fabio Wardley (15-0, 14 KO) scores an impressive victory against a formidable opponent with this win. It results in Nathan Gorman dropping to 19-2, 13 KOs. During his post-fight press conference, Wardley expressed what the success meant to him and also talked about how he sees his boxing career evolve.
“It’s massive. It’s massive. It’s funny to say like when I started, we didn’t know where I was going to go, we didn’t know what I was doing, but each step just gets better and better, and every day I just feel more and more in love with this sport.
“I said there on the edge of the apron. Thereafter, I did my post-fight interview that I can take on anything. The sky is the limit.”
AND THE NEW!! ? #BRITISHHEAVYWEIGHTCHAMPION pic.twitter.com/i1i4tgDYMG
— Fabio Wardley (@Fabio_Wardley) November 27, 2022
While this matchup and the consequent win give the UK a serious boxing heavyweight contender, it’s vital to see if the new UK champ can keep his feet on the ground in his pursuit of greatness.
