KOA Special: Fabio Wardley on his huge fight with Joseph Parker

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0:57Hello friends, welcome to a KOA podcast special. No main podcast today, given the boys did that from their glamorous, luxurious hotel lobby in Middlesbrough on Friday night. If you've not listened to that, go back and listen to it. But today, a special with Fabio Wardley, one of our own Ipswich heavyweight boxer. And on Saturday night at the O2 in London, which is only main event in headlining for the second time, he's facing off against ex-world champion Joseph Parker, the biggest fight of his career. huge, huge test for fab me and Rossi went down to his gym last week in Martlesham, Suffolk Punch and just caught up with him had a good chat with him about all things boxing, Portman Road, becoming a dad his incredible journey, the fight against Parker and potentially what's coming next, if he can beat Parker and he is the underdog and he should be the underdog it's a huge test he would in theory then fight Oleksandr Usyk for all the heavyweight titles, what a story that would be Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chat.

1:54Fab is in a really nice, relaxed, chatty mood, as he always is. Feels super confident ahead of this fight. Yeah, and once again, he's looking to put Suffolk even more on the map. Enjoy.

2:07Mark Heath:Okay, here we are again then with Mr. Big Fights only. Suffolk's own Fabio Wardley, Mark Heath down here at the Suffolk Punch Gym. Big fight coming up. Every time I come down here, Fab, the fights get bigger and bigger. This one is certainly the biggest yet. Joseph Parker a week on Saturday. But obviously coming off, before we get to that, we're coming off an incredible event at Portman Road in the summer where you brought boxing back to Ipswich. Got that win as well in movie style, kind of losing most of the fight and finding that punch. You always find a way to win. How do you reflect on that now with a couple of months kind of removed from it?

2:39Yeah, it was a lot of things. It was crazy, chaotic, memorable, just wild. It had so many emotions, so many feelings attached to it. For so many different reasons as well, because obviously it was in my hometown, in front of my home crowd, at the stadium as well. A place I love so much. I've had so many great moments there as well for obviously footballing reasons. And then looking at the fight itself, it was dramatic because obviously it wasn't going my way. Things weren't working out how the script wasn't going how it was supposed to in that sense. and then obviously getting the win, getting the knockout and in the dramatic fashion that it all happened and the kind of the absolute 180 of all the emotions.

3:26It was quite a roller coaster of a few weeks that. It was a wild time.

3:30Mark Heath:What was it like for you? Because we were inside and the atmosphere was crazy. I can only imagine what it must have been like for you. You are the man in the arena. Your name's above the door. Everyone's there to see you. And then obviously the fight goes the way it does. Then you get the win the way it did. It must have been electric. was it like actually being the star yeah it was a it was a funny one it was had this weird contrast of like so much familiarity of me being obviously at the stadium place I've been for so many years and like being around Ipswich all of fight week obviously my hometown so it all felt really comfortable but in in a situation where oh wait I'm I've got a fight at the end of all this and It kind of added a weird nuance to it.

4:13But yeah, the atmosphere there was crazy as well. It's almost, in a way, it's almost a bit of a sad one because I don't, especially when I'm in the ring, I don't get the chance to really soak it in. I only get the, I get the ring walk before and I get the after, but I don't get the, I don't get the chance to pay attention to it in the middle because you're so focused on the job at hand, on the task. Everything else just kind of blurs out and all meshes into one. So, yeah, it took a few weeks of kind of watching videos back and watching the playback of the fight and stuff to really kind of look at it and go, oh, look, that was something special.

4:50Mark Heath:And incredibly, in typical Fabio Wardley style, that wasn't even the most dramatic thing that happened to you that week because a few days later you become a dad. Your missus, heavily pregnant, was ringside and you seem to live in this sort of movie existence. I was thinking the only thing that would have made it more of a movie is you knock Coney out and then your daughter's born sort of ringside and you're kind of introduced to the world. but how has that been being a dad and sort of getting into that life yeah look that's been fantastic a whole a whole different challenge all in of its own um but yeah i've absolutely loved it i've absolutely loved it it's um it is a funny one because everyone always says to you are like you don't know you you don't know the feeling the emotion all of it until until you're a parent but it couldn't be any truer um it is really the best thing that's ever happened to me i absolutely love my little one dearly.

5:35She's the best, even though she can't say anything or really do much at the moment, she's the absolute best. It's so much fun to just have her around. So yeah, it's been a great few months. Don't get me wrong, it's had its ups and downs. It's not the easiest. And that's a massive credit to my missus as well, because I jump after about eight weeks or so, I was jumping straight back into camp and training and things, and she has to shoulder a lot of the responsibilities in that sense. So she's fighting her own battle in that one um but she's smashing it she's doing really well i always wonder as a professional

6:05Mark Heath:athlete clearly rest and recovery is really important to you now i haven't got kids but i'm to believe that when you do have them you don't get a lot of that a lot of rest a lot of sleep that kind of stuff so how does that dynamic work as someone who's building up to a big fight yeah look you just make it work um you find ways to to get more for you just make more out of the day you know kind of little spaces and routines where you can get a bit of rest or you can get a better sleep or here you just having to go to bed a bit earlier or just tick things off and it's just something you have to kind of consciously pay a bit more attention to especially when I'm in camp but also that mixed with my missus obviously like I say shouldering a lot of the responsibilities and that taking over with the night feeds and all of that so that just takes that off me and I have I just get to lay there and sleep really so like I say she's powering through it and we're building up obviously now to the Joseph Parker fight let's talk about that because as I say another another massive fight the biggest fight of your career again first of all why did you take it because you didn't need to I mean he doesn't need to either you're the WBA interim you hang around maybe have a tick over you'll eventually in theory get a shot now you've put your hand up and said I'll fight what I think most people would say is the second best heavyweight on the planet behind Oleksandr Usyk there's a huge risk and again it's another step up so why have you put yourself in this situation that's what I'm in the game for like you said at the beginning big fights only and there's no point me sitting on the sidelines at least from me and my perspective um that's not the way I'd want my career to go and it's not the way I'd want to look at my career and go oh well I took I took a year off and had a couple of little tick over fights that no one really cared about and didn't really mean anything for me on my career um there's no point for me just hanging about and and just waiting for something to be handed to me I've always very much been of the notion that I want to go get it I want to prove myself and especially probably coming off the Hooney fight as well although I won there was still a lot of questions raised about my ability skills things like that because I was losing the fight so no better way to kind of silence people and prove people wrong and to pick one of the best people in the division have it out with him and beat him and then go right what's anyone got to say after this yeah what are you expecting from Joseph Parker because for me kind of as a boxing fan you look at him you I think there are similarities with Hooney.

8:20Mark Heath:He's not the biggest heavyweight, but he's fast. He boxes well, moves well. Differences, I would say, certainly more experienced, clearly. He's been in with who's who of the best. And also, he's probably got more power with his punches. Is that kind of what you're expecting? What do you see in him as an opponent? Yeah, look, he's got a good skill set across the board. Like I said, experience probably is one of his main factors in that department. He's been in the game for a very long time. He's only 33, I think. He's had nearly 40 fights, which is a lot of time in professional boxing. So he's very experienced, like you say, punches hard, quick with his hands, can get shots off well.

8:59So he has got a lot of good attributes that we're paying attention to, which we've looked at and we've built game plans for. I think the main thing with him is not to have a plan A and assume it's going to plan. I think me and the team, we've put together a plan A, B, C and D of, OK, if he shows up like this, this is how we're going to look. and if he shows up like this, then we're going to adjust things and change to this. So, yeah, look, I think it depends on how he wants to turn up on the night and what kind of fight he thinks he wants to try to display and then we'll go from there with it.

9:31Mark Heath:And if I had to ask you now how you think the fight's going to go in terms of how it plays out, how would you see it playing out as a kind of fight as a whole? Yeah, look, I think in spaces it's going to be, there's going to be moments of back and forth where he's going to have a go, I'm going to have a go, and we're going to see who lands and see what damage that does. And I think in the first couple of rounds, once we've felt each other's power and we've kind of got a ground of where we're going to sit, I think that will set the tone for the rest of the fight. So I think in them early rounds, letting him know that it's a dangerous place to be with me, to be in range, will set a good tone going forward.

10:14Mark Heath:And he has lost before. Obviously, we've also seen him on the floor, so that's got to give you confidence. I mean, you look at your power, historically there's not many more powerful punches in the division so going into this fight you have to have that kind of equaliser and that's got to make you feel good. Yeah, look, I'm definitely up there in terms of power punches in the division. But like you say, he has been down a bunch but he has also got up all the time or at least most of the time. I think the only time he was actually stopped was the Joe Joyce fight. So he's proven that determination, that grit that he does go down but he will get back up and carry on fighting so that's something we're taking into account as well that like yeah we're like okay cool we can probably get to him and get him down but it's not about just getting him down the once you might have to do it two three four times and kind of put these and stack these things on top of each other and piece them together okay so that's the next fight i just want to reflect on your journey fab and i know you probably get bored talking about where you've come from i'm not going to go over all the white collar stuff again but your journey is remarkable i mean it's really kind of unique in boxing i remember i've been coming down here for seven plus years every time as i say bigger fights i remember talking to you just over there the ring is actually gone now it's been that long when you first signed with deal you were four and oh no one had really heard of you you're about to fight the o2 for the first time you told me this is a dream come true fighting the o2 and you were way down the card you weren't on tv if i'd have been able to say fab i've been to the future um by the way you're going to headline the o2 twice you're going a main event portman road you're going to win british european commonwealth english titles you're going to fight on some of the biggest events ever in saudi what do you think you would have said would you have been like actually i can see that happening or would you been like you shouldn't be drinking before yeah yeah i've been questioning if you had a heavy night before you started picking up the mic but um yeah i don't know at that at that stage like and still to be honest but all of it was just a blessing i was just happy to be there i was just happy to be a part of things I was happy to be in the mix um let alone having these lofty goals of of headlining shows and fighting at Portman Road or fighting out in Saudi and chief support into Fury AJ whoever else like it was just I'm in the mix I'm just on the card I didn't I didn't really care um so yeah if you'd have said that I'd probably questioned whether you had a few too many the night before it's been known um and then if you could go back and sort of talk to that young Fabio Wardley 23 year old fresh-faced young fab what would you say to him about what you'd have liked to know about the journey ahead of him um i don't know like i don't think i'd have really given this might sound a bit weird but i don't think i'd have given him any advice for me i think the one thing i've maybe enjoyed about my journey is that there's been no way of there's been nothing no one's ever said to me oh look this is how you're supposed to do it it's just been i've been thrust into it and I figured it out and kind of found my feet for myself and I think that's for me at least that's really benefited me because I've been able to just carve my own path and do it my way and not worry about oh well it should look like this or I should do it this way that's kind of been the staple of my whole career really since I've got into the sport of boxing but just finding my own feet within the sport and doing it my own way that's how it's worked out best for me I think.

13:28Mark Heath:And we We can't avoid, I mean, clearly you're not going to look past Joseph Parker, but we can't avoid the fact that if you win this fight, in theory, you'll be next in line for Oleksandr Usyk, you know, top five, potentially one of the greatest fighters of all time. You sparred with him. I think actually back then you'd just been out sparring with him. So you must have thought about how you'd match up in an actual fight with him. Yeah, don't get me wrong. It's been a good few years since me and him sparred and whichever, and I've come on a bit and he's definitely done some big things in the sport as well.

13:56So, yeah, look, it's that massive fantasy fight that you think about. But right now I'm trying not to delve too deep into that. It's at the back of my mind. Obviously, we know that the pot of gold is at the end of this. Once we get through Parker and a shot of the world titles and a fight against Alexander Usyk is obviously there on the line. But ultimately, in front of me immediately is Parker. We have to figure that out first, get that ticked off. And then I'll be able to allow myself a good sit-down moment and really kind of accept that, oh no, here we go, this is going to be it.

14:28Mark Heath:Yeah, what a fight to look forward to if that happens. Just one final question, Fab. Do you believe in destiny? Because it strikes me that your career, I mean, we've had moments in your career, even going back to, say, the Gorman fight, the Nick Webb fight, when you've had to turn fights around. Obviously, the Hooney 1's a great example. The Fraser Clarke fight, when it was kind of back and forth, blood and thunder. And you've always found a way to come through. It almost feels to me like you're meant to do something, be something. Did you ever get that feeling? it? I don't know, I don't think so I think I just maybe I don't pay enough attention to it, to me it always just seems like I kind of conquer one mountain and it's like right head down, where's the next one I don't really sit and dwell on it too much don't get me wrong, I allow myself little moments to look back, like going to Saudi for the first time or fighting to Portman Road and things like that and appreciating how how like how good it was in the moment but then trying not to get too drawn away by that and almost thinking like I'm the bigger I am it was just like right head down what's the next achievement what's the next goal um always needs a new target for me to be aiming at so no destiny's not really something I think it's just kind of hard work and an ambition really keep it moving on that note is it is it hard to stay grounded because you've come from nothing and you know objectively you're a big deal now i turn on tv you're all over the zone you're all over my social media people know you are you're making good money you're turning left on airplanes you're driving a range rover all that kind of stuff is it is it hard to kind of not get too carried away with yourself um well for me i don't feel so no because you've met my team and my friends family and people around me and stuff and none of them would let me get too big for my boots so um yeah in in that area if i start running around giving it the big i am there's enough people around me who are going to give me a clip around the year no matter how big I am yeah okay right Parker then you've already talked about how you think the fight's going to go you're obviously going to say you're going to win how do you see yourself winning one way or another I see myself knocking him out um I do see myself getting him out of there it's going to take a little bit of time to figure out how he's shaping up how he wants to go about things in the fight um but once I kind of find the rhythm find the space i think um by the mid rounds seven eight somewhere around there i think i'll have found my groove quite nicely and i'll start putting punches together and obviously we've got to talk about town you're going to have some town players in the audience they play west brom i think lunchtime on the day of your fight um last time you fought the o2 you banned them because they were playing southampton the following day but this time you're going to have them in the audience obviously we used to see mark ashton there yeah mark will be there a few players will be there as well.

17:09Obviously a lot of the back staff as well they'll all be there so yeah it's going to be hopefully it's going to be a nice double header on that day. A little win at home with West Brom and then watch me do the business at the O2 on the evening time so yeah look it's great to have that support as well from the boys at the club because obviously coming off that massive fight there at Portman Road and obviously just the way they've supported me throughout the years from their side it's nice to be able to show my skills off in front of them.

17:42Mark Heath:Yeah, one more. This really is a final question. Movie, Your Life. I heard you talking about Netflix. White Collar to World Champ. Sort of series. You thought about a book? Because I know a guy who could write a book. He's followed you since he started. No, I haven't. I haven't thought about a book, actually. No. Well, you know. Maybe that's one of the other avenues as well. But, yeah, we'll see. We'll see how things go. We've still got a few more pages, a few more chapters to write, and then we'll have a look. Okay, we'll have a talk. All right, then. Thanks so much, Vav. Best of luck. All of Suffolk is behind you, so go make us proud again.

18:12Cheers, mate. Thank you. Thanks, mate.

18:43Thank you.

19:09Thank you.

19:50The World Cup Championship will be crowned this week, and you can trade the tourney through the finals on Calci, America's number one prediction market platform. Right now, Spain is trading at 58 % to beat Argentina, meaning 100 trade pays out 166 if they win. On Kalshi, you're trading against other people in a live market. No house, no odds makers. For a limited time, download the Kalshi app and use code DEFEND to get$10 when you trade$10. K-A-L-S-H-I. Kalshi. 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.

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