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The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Fabio Wardley scores stunning one-shot comeback KO of Justis Huni to set up stunning world title shot
FABIO WARDLEY'S baby daughter will arrive just in time to celebrate her daddy's sensational comeback christening. Ipswich's 30-year-old heavyweight boxed his way up from the Advertisement 4 Fabio Wardley knocked out Justis Huni Credit: Getty 4 It was a huge come from behind win Credit: Reuters 4 Wardley celebrates his huge KO Credit: Getty But he put on a performance worthy of the Tractor Boys' Prem relegation and was dominated by 26-year-old Australian Justis Huni until a sensational 10th round KO. The battered and bruised winner said: "I am so thankful to everyone here, you got me through that, I could not have done it without you. "I have never claimed to be Usyk, with all the skills, but I know how to bite down on the gumshield and find a way to win. "I should have performed better but I pulled something special out of the bag. Advertisement "He pulled out so many tricks and I didn't expect him to bank so many rounds But I screwed my head back on and got the job done." The 26-year-old Aussie caught the hometown hero's attention with a two-jab combination in the opener, stabbing to the body and then the head. But Wardley threatened him back with whipped right hands in spiteful Mexican Fly-branded blue gloves. The Tractor Boys could not intimidate Huni with even their loudest songs and the underdog grew in confidence in the second and scored with the cleaner and more technical shots, while Wardley headhunted bluntly. Advertisement Most read in Boxing CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Wardley was slapped by three meaty left hooks in the third that had the partisan crowd panicked. But then he landed a peach of a punch that stunned Huni and had him staggering backwards and covering up. 'We never know' - Tyson Fury refuses to rule out comeback as Anthony Joshua nears new 'amazing' fight deal Huni ran away with the fourth, cracking Wardley with a pinpoint one-two and clipping him with a left hook. Advertisement Prior to his one-round demolition of Frazer Clarke, Wardley had a bad reputation for slow starts and was returning to bad habits. Wardley inexplicably dropped his hands for the middle rounds and let his face get flattened by every shot Huni threw. It was bafflingly bad boxing from a fighter who had shown freakish improvements with every previous bout. Huni landed every right hand he aimed and made a bloody mess of the Englishman. Advertisement Huni only took the challenge on five weeks notice and was doing Down Under proud with clever technical boxing and nerves of steel. But, after losing almost every round in a stinker of a performance, Wardley uncorked a life-changing shot hat dropped Huni and he failed to rise from. Read more on the Irish Sun Wardley is now the WBA "interim" champion with Oleksandr Usyk defending his full version against Daniel Dubois on July 19 at Wembley. And Wardley's Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren insisted the comeback king will be first in line for the winner. Advertisement 4 Wardley sets himself up for a title shot Credit: Reuters
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Martin Bakole wore Daniel Dubois' gloves in last-minute fill-in loss to Joseph Parker at Bivol-Beterbiev 2
Martin Bakole didn't just take Daniel Dubois' spot on Saturday's boxing mega-card, he took his gloves, too. In a curious sight, Bakole was spotted wearing Dubois' black Fly-branded gloves with "DDD" written across them in his fight with Joseph Parker for the WBO interim heavyweight title at the Anb Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Parker was initially scheduled to challenge IBF heavyweight champion Dubois as the co-main event to Saturday's Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol rematch, however Dubois was forced to withdraw from the fight with the New Zealander on Thursday due to illness. Riyadh Season, the promotional entity operated by Turki Alalshikh and Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, managed to get Bakole to agree to step in on 48 hours' notice and replace Dubois in a remarkable save for the show. Bakole missed Friday's official weigh-in because he was still on a 3,800-mile flight from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He arrived in Riyadh less than 24 hours before he was scheduled to fight. Bakole unofficially weighed in on Saturday morning at 310 pounds, 25.5 pounds heavier than when he knocked out Jared Anderson in the fifth round in Los Angeles this past August. The heavyweight contender admitted in social media posts that he wasn't in training camp when he received the call and was unprepared for his fight with Parker, though he still expressed confidence in his chances at victory. There wasn't enough time for Bakole to have his own pair of gloves approved by the British Boxing Board of Control, which officiated the event, so he was forced to wear Dubois' gloves with "DDD" visible below the Fly logo on the gloves. When Bakole entered the ring, he was clearly out of shape and static. Parker floored Bakole with a right-hand temple shot in the second round, and Bakole was pulled out by trainer Billy Nelson after the knockdown. Nelson told Ring Magazine that Bakole will still go ahead with his planned May 2 fight against Efe Ajagba in New York on the Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando Romero undercard, but the bout would no longer be an IBF eliminator. Fighters cannot take an interim fight after being ordered for an IBF eliminator, so when Bakole agreed to face Parker, he was simultaneously withdrawn from the IBF eliminator with Ajagba.
