Fabio Wardley thought he was being SCAMMED on Facebook when Oleksandr Usyk asked him for sparring
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FABIO WARDLEY thought he was being SCAMMED after being approached to spar Oleksandr Usyk in 2018.
Usyk was preparing to defend his undisputed cruiserweight titles against Britain's Tony Bellew at the time.
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Fabio Wardley with Oleksandr Usyk in 2018
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Wardley thought he was being scammed when he got the sparring offer
Credit: Instagram / @fabiowardley
Wardley was just 4-0 having only turned professional a year earlier off the back of four wins on the white collar circuit.
So when the former recruitment consultant got a message to join Usyk's camp in Kyiv - he could not quite believe it.
Wardley told The Times: "I got this message on Facebook in broken English and at first I thought it might be a scam.
'I was confused as to why I'd even be on Usyk's radar. I'd left my job in London to focus on my career and I was working part-time in a commercial gym.
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"I asked them for three weeks off and they said no, so I left. I flew to Ukraine and a driver had a sign with my name on it.
"He didn't speak a lick of English and I got into this stranger's white van and I thought, 'I don't know if I'm making it home', but then I met his team and they were all really nice.
"I was extremely green. I didn't know the scale of Usyk's skill. To even lay a glove on him was really difficult.
"I think I got something like £750 per week.'
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Wardley's success is one of the most unlikely in British boxing after forgoing amateur experience.
His handful of white collar fights started as a way of keeping fit and ended with aspirations of a genuine pro career.
Fabio Wardley faces off with Justis Huni ahead of his homecoming fight
Wardley got his break in 2018 after sparring with Dillian Whyte and later being signed to his management stable.
And he has since racked up 18 wins with just one draw - against Frazer Clarke which he brutally avenged in their rematch.
Wardley now has the chance to put himself in line for the heavyweight titles former sparring partner Usyk holds.
He said: 'When I turned professional, I just thought I'd have a few fights and if I could win any kind of belt in my career, I'd be happy to have something decent to look back on.
'I wasn't supposed to be achieving these kinds of things.
I got this message on Facebook in broken English and at first I thought it might be a scam. I was confused as to why I'd even be on Usyk's radar.
Fabio Wardley
"I fought at the O2, then I headlined the O2, I've fought in Saudi Arabia as the chief support to Tyson Fury and to Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol.
"It keeps feeling like we've peaked and that it can't get any better and now I'm fighting at the stadium in my hometown.
"I'm genuinely on the edge of a world title, which sounds crazy for me just to say.'
Wardley, 30, references his homecoming Ipswich fight at Portman Road against Australian Justis Huni, 26, on Saturday.
He was initially set to fight Jarrell Miller - the controversial serial drug cheat - until the American pulled out due to "injury".
So Aussie Huni - who won gold at the amateur World Youth Championships in 2016 - filled in as a late replacement on five weeks' notice.
Wardley said: 'Huni is another opponent from a completely different end of entry in boxing terms.
'After starting in white-collar, anything was a win. This wasn't realistic, but you always imagine.'
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