KOA special: Fabio Wardley on beating Joseph Parker and fighting Oleksandr Usyk

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0:56Mark Heath:Hello, friends. Bad news. It's another international break. Pointless, dull, complete waste of time. So horrific. No one cares about it. Let's end international football. Good news. We brought you something a little bit special to keep you entertained during this pointless international break. And that, friends, is a trip to see friend of the show, big Fabio Wardley, Suffolk's own Fabio Wardley, only now the number one contender, the undisputed heavyweight titles currently held by Oleksandr Usyk and the second-ranked heavyweight walking this planet. Fab is now a very, very big deal. He's a tremendous story, obviously, since beating Joseph Parker.

1:35Mark Heath:He continues to upset the odds, and now he is one win away from being the undisputed heavyweight champion. That happens once in a blue moon, and that man could be from Suffolk. If they make the fight, if it comes to pass, and if he can find a way of beating the unbelievably good, top five potentially all time Alexander Usyk I know many of you listen to this pod are boxing fans and I also appreciate that many of you listen to it aren't boxing fans and if that's you I would implore you just purely from the the point of view of a good story Fabio Wardley is I would argue the best story in sport and he's one of our own he has solid links to nipswich town as you know uh he's come from nowhere the boxing neverland really the um the kind of wilderness no amateur pedigree four white collar fights turns pro knocks everyone out and now unbelievably having been the underdog in pretty much every fight for the past few he's on the verge of doing something which very few people have ever done in boxing so i went down to his gym soffit punchy martisham with rossi had a good chat with him talked about the joseph parker fight just how he uh he came through that what is he made of essentially because he built something very different it's fab and then obviously we talked about olexandrusik and various other bits so here you go um just to keep you entertained while the international football goes on and obviously no one watches it uh and before town come back with a big big run of games as we build up to christmas here's me and fabio wardley down the gym.

3:09Mark Heath:Enjoy. Okay, here we are then. Mark Heath back at the Suffolk Punch gym with Fabio Wardley, now the number one contender for the undisputed heavyweight championship titles. Second best heavyweight on the planet. How does that sound? It all sounds pretty good. Doesn't necessarily sound real or anything, but yeah, it's good. Everything's gone pretty well over the last week, I'd say. Oh mate, it really has. I've got loads of questions for you, but In terms of since the fight, since the win, getting that win in the start, he did again in another great fight. How has life changed for you? Because I've seen you kind of all over shows in America.

3:46Mark Heath:I'd assume you've got a lot more attention from people. What's it been like? Yeah, definitely. There's been quite a big increase in terms of attention, media. People wanted to talk to you now. One, because obviously the fight and how it was and how it went, the back and forth and everything. But obviously my story, where I've come from, and obviously what's upcoming next for me as well. So there's been a lot of different kind of people who have wanted to cover with me. So yeah, it's been a little bit full on aside from all the fight and everything itself. Following that is then all the media stuff that comes after.

4:19Mark Heath:What's the fight like for you? Because we talked before the fight, obviously, what kind of fight you were expecting. Did it go the way you thought it would? Yeah, to be honest, for the most part, it did. I never expected to have it all my own way. There was good back and forth. There was rounds where I was doing well. There was rounds where he was doing well. there was adjustments that needed to be made um he was had some really good attributes his jab double jab left to it think certain things he was doing um which we had to kind of work on in the moment and figure out a bit uh so yeah but overall it all went to plan really um we knew the areas where i could get and we knew the areas where i'd be kind of stronger a bit better my attributes would work out better for me and we explored them pretty well i've got a few questions for you about the fight and the ending i'm not going to go over the ending too much but casual boxing fans fab my mum for example whenever you're fighting she messaged me saying is he going to win and then she messaged me oh he's won again um and i kind of try she says what's what's different about him and i said he's just made of something else like you're made of something different and i think it was the 10th round where parker landed some shots and you look like you're in trouble and you kind of stepped back and kind of nodded at him and then went at him now in boxing clearly when someone shows out like that you tend to think oh they're hurt but for you it seems like almost like a switch goes and you're like right we're having it uh what goes through your mind in a moment like that yeah it was um that's the i guess that's like the other side to me the the less kind of not scripted but the one that's kind of deviates from the plan from everything we've worked on and all the things we should be doing and going about things in the right place that's maybe the other side to me that goes all right you know what if you want to have a scrap let's let's have a scrap then we can have it out and let's really see what you're made of if you want to if you want to have a go at it i'll stand here with you and trade out and we'll see who goes down first is that instinctive like in the moment are you thinking about anything or are you literally just going right this is it we're going yeah it's more of like uh okay fine cool all right if that's what you want to do that's what we're going to do i'll show you kind of thing yeah incredible incredible stuff and then the ending obviously came i thought it was a good stoppage i know some people have got some beef with it but you were you were pinging him around the ring before that no one wants to see him get hurt uh and then you fall to the floor and rob comes in and he's been practicing jumping in to make sure he was here first so first of all what was going through your head and what did rob say to you when he jumped on top of you um i was i was like obviously thinking about because all the way in the build-up i wasn't allowing myself to think about what came after and then again getting the win the fight gets called and in that moment i I was like, I've done it.

6:55Then in that moment, I allowed myself to go, you know what's next? You know what you've just got? You know what you've just got the chance to do? And I think he jumped on top of me and he said, do you know what you've just done? He kind of had the same sentiment in his head. He was like, do you know what you've just done? Do you know what you've just done? So I guess we were kind of on the same wavelength there.

7:14Mark Heath:Clearly, I mean, you know what you've just done. Does that register, though, as the person who's doing it? Because people like me talk about great stories and narratives and this is an amazing story but you're the guy in the ring doing it does that kind of click with you that I've done stuff that people didn't think I could do and has not really been done before um yeah in spaces and in moments again it's a funny one for me it's not one I like to sit there and mull over and go oh look how great I am I've done all these all these great things that other people haven't been able to do or whichever else um but there is a level of it that you need to allow yourself them opportunities, them moments to go actually, like give yourself a little pat on the back and go actually, you know what, you're doing pretty well, things are going pretty well for you, you've stuck at it and adversity, things have gone wrong and it's not gone your way and for however long everyone's been against you but yeah, credit to you, you keep coming out on top.

8:10Mark Heath:Where do you get your confidence from Fab? Because that's like another key attribute for you, you believe in yourself so much, you don't just say it, you clearly do believe in yourself and on paper you've got no right to do that against someone like joseph parker given the experience and that where does that kind of level of self-belief come from um it comes from a bunch of areas it comes from my team they have immense amount of faith belief confidence in me friends family same thing they have huge motivators for me as well but also just in the work that i've done that's i think that's where the confidence come from is that i know i've not skipped a session i know i've put the work in i know i've done the reps i know i've trained i know i've studied i know i've done it all so why would i not win if i if i've done everything i should do yeah i should come out on top so i just have confidence and belief in as long as i stick to the plan and and do everything you should do and don't slack off not that the win's ever guaranteed but it's it's definitely more likely just one more on the fight itself i thought you boxed really well has that you think that's kind of been overlooked because you obviously you're outboxed against two and you felt like you had a bit of point to prove i did still think you were probably losing the fight but you were boxing really well the left hand the jab was fantastic right hand behind it and then that uppercut as well was was money so you must have been pleased with that improvement for the boxing side of things yeah again there was there was some good improvements boxing wise that we made some good adjustments um offensively and defensively as well on both sides that we again like i said in the build-up like it took from the hooney fight of like okay you did this wrong this wrong this wrong let's make some adjustments let's change them and and let's do this um but yeah i think a lot of it got overshadowed one because of the knockout and two because of then the stoppage of kind of the controversy around it and things so it kind of got missed because again like you said as well a lot of people had Joe ahead on the cards and things so it was just another one of oh Fab's just pulled it out of the bag kind of thing yeah i had your 6-4 down i thought it was close um in In terms of then what comes next, ooh, sick, as you said on the mic afterwards.

10:12Mark Heath:Now, we talked about this beforehand. Now, it's very much a possibility. I've seen Frank saying that negotiations have started. Is that something you can confirm? Have you started to move towards that? It's not something I can confirm because I haven't spoken to Frank. Okay. But I've left it to him, really. I said to him afterwards, I said, look, you do your thing. I said, we'll catch up in a week or two, a little bit. Like when some time's passed. because these early doors, especially even if someone like Frank says our negotiations have started, then it's the most broadest of broad conversations.

10:45Nothing's even close to being nailed. So for me, I was like, I've done my bit. I've done my job. That's your side. That's up to you. I don't need to be calling you every day for an update, update, update. So I haven't. So I said to him, I'll give you a few weeks. I'll give you some time. We'll catch up and we'll figure some things out then and see where we land.

11:03Mark Heath:Okay, but as I say, you are the number one contender. In a perfect world, where and when would that fight be? We've had some chats. I know Sky asked you about Portman Road, but realistically, that's nowhere near big enough unless you can persuade Mark to stick 40 ,000 on before, wherever it's going to be. So are we looking at Wembley? Would that be the dream destination? I don't know, to be honest. I'd quite like to do something different, and I mean different in the sense of, don't get me wrong, Wembley is very different. I'd like to do something in America I think maybe Vegas maybe MSG something like that like I've done the UK I've done a stadium in the UK I've done the O2 I've done Riyadh I'd like to do something a bit different and go to America but Owe Moline it's not up to me it's up to the big man it's up to Usyk himself so look if he wants to do it at Wembley if he wants to do it somewhere closer to his homeland or whichever else it's going to be all up to him really so yeah we'll see maybe a fight in the home but you've not done Vegas before have you so that'd be a new one to tick off against one of the greatest fighters of all time Odes Andrusik then what do you think about him as an opponent because in theory he's the guy you're going to fight next we know he's done what he's done in the sport what do you make of him as a fighter yeah look he is everything everyone says and more a generational great generational talent the best boxer on the planet currently so yeah one hell of a task don't get me wrong but I think I've got attributes that can that can get me good moments in the fight and it's just about capitalising on them but make no mistake it's a very tall task, it's a very big ask but no one's been able to get through it as of yet and my kind of thing is okay well the fight as he's faced previously have been pretty conventional in a sense in terms of how they box and how they do things and whichever else so maybe the one thing to throw off kind of the ultimate boxer is someone who's a bit unconventional who's a bit different who doesn't move to the same kind of rhythm so maybe we'll see and also unusually you know him you obviously sparred with him and that kind of stuff what what kind of memories do you have of those sessions with him yeah him just pinging me all around the place to be honest I was very early in my career I was maybe two three fights in something like that I think it was about six seven years ago so I was brand new it was the first time I'd gone away for a spiron camp and don't get me wrong he's gotten in much better since as well but he was still a great fighter back then as well so yeah I just remember just getting punched up a lot to be honest I'm going to say something to you now I wouldn't have said to you two weeks ago I think you can beat Alexander Usyk and I think there's two keys clearly the power you've got as you've already said the kind of an orthodox way that you move and throw punches but I think a lot of people who fight Utsuk are kind of beaten almost before the fight and if they're not beaten before the fight they're beaten mentally in the fight with the way he pressures them but we know from you, you won't give up, you'll be there until the last punch is thrown and you only need one so I can see you doing the unthinkable coming through the fire and stopping him late, am I wrong?

14:13No, not at all, look it's there, it's on the table it's definitely doable, like you say I think I said in the ring after the fight, if it does come off, hopefully, whichever else, one way or another, Oleksandr Usyk will come out of that knowing he's been in a fight. There's no way it's going to be an easy ride. He's going to know he's been in a scrap. And that's one thing I do bring, is that pressure and that power. So those two things together can be a recipe for disaster for him.

14:42Mark Heath:I honestly can't wait to see it. If he doesn't take the fight, and clearly boxing's boxing, and it's not as simple as you've won this fight and now you fight him. If he doesn't take the fight, though, you get the title, right? So you get it kind of sent to you and then you can defend it. Yeah, so I'd be elevated to full world champion. So I'd get the belt, it'd be sent to me, and then I'd be able to defend it. So then I'd have a world title defence against, I don't know, someone of my choosing. Would Joseph Parker be in that kind of line of thinking? Because obviously there's been talk about potential rematch if the Yusik fight doesn't happen.

15:14Mark Heath:Was that something you'd entertain? Yeah, potentially. I think there would be interest in that based off the first fight. It was a really good fight. Everyone really enjoyed it. So there would be interest. There's other names. There's other people who are well-ranked who could be possibilities as well. So we'll kind of look across the board and see what we think fits best. Just in the nature of the fights you're in as well, Fab. I heard people talking about you being the heavyweight Arturo Gatti and you're kind of the next kind of Nigel Bennat, a heavyweight version of Nigel Benn. You've been in some all-time classic fights already.

15:48Mark Heath:I mean, two or three of the best heavyweight fights you'll ever see. Is that important to you at all? That kind of, not only do you win these fights, you get the knockouts, but you're also in these fights that people will be watching years from now. Yeah, it's one of the most important things to me. It was something I very much wanted as I started my career. I wanted to be known as an entertaining boxer, not just, oh, he wins or whichever else. I wanted I always wanted like people either to see my name attached to a fight see my name on a poster and be like that's going to be a good fight he's involved you know what he does you know what he's about and people get excited and I wanted those moments where I'm fighting whatever situation or something dramatic and people then think back and remember like I was there for that like people will think to the the Fraser 1 fight or the Fraser 2 fight and think I was there I saw the knockout or I saw the canvas and all the blood and it was like crazy atmosphere moment and things and those those are memories that will stick with people so yeah being being memorable and being almost a fan favorite in that sense is something that's very big for me yeah well i'll certainly say you're that um talk to me about uh your move into management because you've taken i mean obviously you've come through where people kind of took risks and took you on and took you under their wing and now you're going to do the same for a young lad from ipswich can you tell us a little bit about him yeah uh isaiah he's a young dad out of this gym white collar boy like me but he has done some abas as well because we were trying to get him to do a bit of both um management very broadly i'm not i haven't got my license i'm not a manager i'm just gonna be shoulder to shoulder with him more like probably a an advisor something like that just helping him along the way trying to get him opportunities where i can and help him out and just want to see him do well that's all like help him give him advice obviously not coach him, he's going to train with Rob, my coach as well but obviously add input, add advice and just be there for him the same way Dil was there for me, obviously a bit of a different capacity, Dil was actually my manager but in this situation I just want to see him do well I just want to be there for him, just want to help him kick on Ok, we're keeping out for him, one more question then Fab what does the rest of the year look like for you now because obviously you're out of camp you've just become a dad, what's normal life like for Fabio Wardley do you ever i mean clearly you have to keep training but not the same level of intensity so do you allow yourself to have like a a nice christmas that kind of thing yeah of course yeah it's just it goes back to normal life for me it just goes back to like nappy changes 4am feeds things like that and then just catching up with friends because i've been away for 12 13 14 weeks whatever else i've been not been able to see people just been focused focused focused on training so yeah it's catching up with family friends and just trying to live live a normal life for the next kind of eight nine weeks intermittently in and out of the gym still training taking over staying staying in somewhat shape not trying to blow up too much but yeah just enjoying a bit of downtime super well you've certainly earned it when might we see then the ucyk fight in terms of timing summer's been talked about i've also heard spring talked about if you had your way when would it be uh yeah somewhere in the middle april may ideally something like that good bit of time good bit of training camp just get straight into things at the beginning of the year would be ideal for me but again he's a big man it's up to him fab thanks so much for again giving us your time i know you have many many other people who want to talk to you it's always appreciated that you make time for us and congratulations again it was extraordinary mate it's fantastic to watch so well done thank you appreciate it mate thank you

19:29Thank you.

20:00Thank you.

20:29Thank you.

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21:38Right now, Spain is trading at 58 % to beat Argentina, meaning 100 trade pays out 166 if they win. On Calci, you're trading against other people in a live market. No house, no odds makers. For a limited time, download the Calci app and use code DEFEND to get$10 when you trade$10. k-a-l-s-h-i calci trade the beautiful game 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors calci products are not available in all jurisdictions prices values and available markets may differ from those mentioned for more information see calci.com forward slash regulatory