Fabio Wardley admitted he had to ‘dig deep’ as he produced an unlikely knockout win over Justis Huni on Saturday night.
The Ipswich native, fighting in front of 20,000 home fans, was roundly outboxed in the fight, but produced a stunning knockout blow midway through the tenth round. He edged narrowly ahead in the opening exchanges, but Huni came back with a vengeance, dominating proceedings before Wardley landed the key punch to cut proceedings short.
He was crowned the interim WBA heavyweight champion and can challenge Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed title as early as next year. He was honest as he assessed the fight, though, admitting the more skilled fighter did not win.
“I don't profess to be any kind of Usyk, Justis Huni, someone with all the skills,” he explained. “But one thing I do know how to do is win fights. Dig deep, find a bit of heart, bite down on that gumshield and find a way to win, and that is what I had to do tonight.”
He admitted that he was frustrated to have fallen behind in the early rounds, saying he grew overconfident after edging ahead in the first round.
He continued: “Justis Huni is a great operator. No matter what, I am gonna be aggravated with myself.
“I know my game plan to a tee, and I should have performed better in some of those rounds. Sometimes you just have to find a way to win, and we pulled something out of the bag.
“He's a great boxer with some great skills. He showed me everything he had tonight, pulling out all sorts of different tricks.
“I had him hurt and going in the first round. Maybe that gave me a bit too much confidence, but I screwed my head on and stuck to the game plan.”
The loss is the first of Huni’s career, but he was humble in defeat, acknowledging that he lost concentration ahead of the knockout blow.
He said: “That's my curse. I said before this fight it only takes one split second to switch off, and it happened tonight.
“Credit to Fabio and his team, I am grateful for the opportunity to come here to Ipswich and perform in front of you. He’s a champion.
“He’s just an awesome fighter. He never gave up and got the win tonight, and he deserves it.”
