Fabio Wardley would have taken a fight with Daniel Dubois next.
British heavyweight champion Wardley is coming off a stunning first-round knockout victory over Frazer Clarke.
He was willing to make the leap from British to world level and go into an immediate fight with Daniel Dubois, the IBF champion from Greenwich, next.
“Very much so. 100 per cent I’d have taken it because you never know when your opportunity is going to come again,” Wardley told Sky Sports News.
“Boxing is a funny game. You can set as many plans as you want together, scheme and come up with all these ideas and it may not come off.
“So if it’s delivered to you, if it’s handed to you in front of you and they go ‘here’s your opportunity’, I’m speaking for myself, but I’m taking it with both hands.”
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Fabio Wardley reflected on his incredible first-round KO against Frazer Clarke and how he prepared himself in the lead up to the fight
He added: “I think I’ve done all the building blocks, the milestones and ticked them all off. I’ve done the hard 12 rounds, I’ve gone in with bigger guys, smaller guys, punchers, boxers, whichever else, pedigreed amateurs, all the rest.
“Throughout my career I’ve taken on whatever opportunity’s been put in front of me and I’ve gone through it and I don’t see this level switch as anything different. I see it as another change, another opportunity, another wall for me to break through.”
Dubois is boxing Joseph Parker, a former world champion, on a blockbuster Sky Sports Box Office bill on February 22.
Wardley is actually tipping Parker to edge the contest when they clash on next week’s Riyadh Season event.
“It’ll be a hard fight regardless, for the pair of them as well. But I think him and Andy Lee [his coach] have been showing that they’re cooking up something special. They have been in the last few fights when it comes to gameplans and belief in how they’re working and how things go,” Wardley said.
Watch the blockbuster February 22 bill live on Sky Sports Box Office
“So maybe sway it slightly that side for me.”
Wardley will be working his way to his own world title shot. “The plan for this year is either [to be in] pole position for a world title or fighting for a world title,” he said.
“So it’s about putting myself in the right place. That No 1 ranking with the WBA is a great start to the year and a great start to that. So it’s just about following up on that, capitalising and keeping the train rolling really.”
The WBA world title is held by unified champion Oleksandr Usyk.
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British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley made his way to the ring to the sound of Roy Jones Jr’s famous hit ‘Can’t Be Touched’
Wardley reflected: “Ultimately we’re all just waiting to see what Usyk does. If he starts defending mandatories, if he’s done and is just going to let all the belts go. Is he going to do the Daniel fight? There’s question marks around that.
“Me and other people like myself we’re all kind of stood on the sidelines just waiting for our opportunity. Have to wait and see what he does first to make the right move, or make the smart move.”
He isn’t though planning on challenging Usyk directly. Wardley added: “It seems less and less likely that our paths will ever cross, but if it did ever come together, it would be a crazy fight.”
Daniel Dubois vs Joseph Parker and the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol rematch will be live on Saturday February 22 on Sky Sports Box Office. Book now!
