Fabio Wardley claimed the WBA interim heavyweight title against the previously undefeated Justis Huni with a tenth-round knockout on Saturday night at the Portman Road Stadium in Ipswich, England.
Huni (12-1, 7 KOs) came in as a late replacement for brash American heavyweight Jarrell Miller, who pulled out due to a shoulder injury. Wardley (19-0-1, 18 KOs) struggled with the Australian right up until the knockout. The Ipswich native was on his way to losing his Queensberry debut quite comfortably but would produce a shot from nowhere to delight his hometown crowd.
In the first round, Huni dug in a body shot followed by a right hand upstairs, taking a positive start. However, Huni’s legs buckled from a short-sharp right hook as the bell approached. The second round was tough to split as the two men sized each other up.
Huni started the third round on top, jabbing to the body and then pushing forward to land consecutive left hooks followed by a right hand pressing Wardley up against the ropes. Huni continued to impress as the round progressed, varying his jab between head and body, and would land another good left hook close to the minute mark. However, Wardley landed a good combination off the backfoot. Huni closed the period with a straight right to the head.
Wardley let his hands go to open round four but his swinging right hand would mostly find its way over the head of the Australian. Huni took charge for the rest of the round. A straight right hand to the chin and left hook were the most eye-catching shots. Wardley appeared to be struggling with the less obvious faints and good footwork. The pair traded midway through a more even round five, but Wardley was struggling with the hand speed of Huni.
Huni landed a stretched-out jab followed by a good right hand to stop Wardley in his tracks in the sixth as his face appeared more beaten. Huni was pulling away on the cards as Wardley struggled to come up with ideas.
Huni landed two big consecutive right hands in the seventh to continue on his way to claiming the upset on away soil. Wardley attempted the uppercut, but Huni let it catch his guard. Huni pushed hard as the round closed, landing a good right to the body and catching Wardley’s chin with another two right hands as the bell rang.
In round eight, Huni controlled the entire three minutes as Wardley’s face became even more worn and appeared tired and confused.
Going into round nine, DAZN commentator and analyst Carl Frampton had scored the contest 78-74 for Huni. The Australian continued his relentless pressure as his promoter, Frank Warren, looked on nervously.
Wardley needed a knockout to claim the win at this stage, which didn’t feel like it was coming as Huni was effortlessly sliding away from the Englishman’s attacks. However, Huni confidently strode forward with his feet square and was met by an explosive right hand to the chin, sending Huni flat on his back to the canvas. He would make it up on unsteady legs, but referee John Latham waved the fight off at 1:42 to hand the Australian his first career defeat.
“I don’t profess to be any kind of [Oleksandr] Usyk with those kinds of skills. What I do know is how to win fights,” Wardley said in the post-fight interview. “Sometimes you need to find a way to win. I pulled it out of the bag.”
“It only takes one split second to switch off, and it happened,” Huni added. “Credit to Fabio and his team; he’s a great champion. He’s just an awesome fighter, and he never gave up.”
Undercard Results
Ireland’s Pierce O’Leary (17-0, 9 KOs) secured the vacant European super lightweight title while also defending his WBC International belt with an impeccable unanimous-decision victory against London’s Liam Dillon (15-3-1, 3 KOs). The judges scored the contest: 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113.
Cuban cruiserweight Mike Perez (31-3-1, 22 KOs) scored a ninth-round stoppage win over Northern Ireland’s Steven Ward (15-4, 5 KOs). Ward hit the canvas twice in the eighth before his corner threw the towel in the ninth.
Albanian heavyweight Nelson Hysa (23-0, 21 KOs) defeated Germany’s Patrick Korte (22-5-1, 18 KOs) with a second-round stoppage to claim the WBO European title.
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