The waiting is finally over for Fabio Wardley, with the Town-supporting boxer’s long-held ambition of a Portman Road fight set to be fulfilled this evening.
Wardley, who hails from Chantry, takes on Australian Heavyweight champion Justis Huni, a replacement for initial opponent Jarrell Miller, who pulled out due to a shoulder injury, for the interim WBA World Heavyweight title.
The 30-year-old, who watches Town home matches from the directors’ box alongside chairman and CEO Mark Ashton, is top of the WBA’s rankings with Huni number one in the WBO’s.
Portman Road, which previously staged boxing in 1946, has been covered in protective plastic boards ahead of the fight with around 20,000 fans expected to attend. Tickets are still available via the club with the fight being shown live by DAZN and the earlier contests on the Queensbury Promotions website.
Commonwealth and WBA Continental champion Wardley, unbeaten in his 19 fights, 18 wins and one draw, admits that this week hasn’t been quite the same as the final days leading up to his previous contests.
"It definitely does feel different,” he admitted. "It has been a funny one this week, with still being at home and where these events are, all being in my home town, just down the road from me.
"On the way here [to his press conference on Thursday], I am bumping into people I know and walking past places I go, so it has a bit of a different feel to it.
"It has added to a nice and relaxed, chilled week. I haven’t had to uproot and take myself to either Saudi or London, so it has been good for me and the team.”
Ahead of the fight, a lot has been made of Wardley’s late start in boxing. While working as a recruitment consultant, he took up white collar boxing at 19 and had four unlicensed bouts before his first professional contest at 22 in 2017.
Hunis has a much longer background in the sport going back to when he was just eight years old.
"It is nothing new for me, the standard talk of me not having an amateur background and me being inexperienced in that sense, not having the boxing knowhow, the boxing IQ to bring in the ring on the night,” Wardley, whose partner is due to give birth to their first child next week, reflected.
"I haven’t been defeated yet and I have come across star-studded amateurs and Olympic medalists and all sorts. I don’t know where these things are supposed to match-up and are supposed to go wrong for me. They haven’t yet.
"Credit to Justis Huni for thinking he is the man to do that. The most obvious thing to say is I have the power and that is undeniable. When you see my fights, all of my opponents have touched the canvas.
"I didn’t get the amateur experience when I was younger, but I have done the hard work and the hard yards since I got into boxing. One of the first things I realised was I had things to make up in the sport. I did that, got my head down and grafted.
"There is no way this is being taken away from me now. Not in my hometown, not on my home stage.”
Huni, 26, who is from Brisbane and has won all 12 of his fights, believes his additional experience will be the difference on the night.
"I am feeling excited, pumped and it is only two days out now,” he said at the press conference. "I just can’t wait to get in there, share the ring with Fabio and give the fight fans a good fight and the people of Ipswich, so let’s go.
"I’ve still got the same opinion. Two days from now we will be able to showcase it and show everyone what I am all about. We’re here in fight week and it is exciting for me.
"My ring IQ, my experience in the ring, knowing where I am at all times. It will show on fight night. I’ve done all the training that I’ve needed to do and I am ready to go.
"I’ve got my game plan and I am going to show up on the night and stick to it. It doesn’t really matter what we say here, it is on fight night when we’ve got to put all the training and stuff to the test. I am ready to go and can’t wait to share the ring with him.”
Frank Warren, from Queensberry Promotions, Wardley’s promoter, believes the heavyweight division is particularly strong at present.
"This is the golden age of heavyweight boxing at the moment,” he said. "All these guys are fighting each other, the skill and quality of these heavyweights is probably the best it has been for many, many years.
"This is a very important fight in the heavyweight division. The winner of this becomes the number one and mandatory for the WBA title, so they have got everything to go for.
"It doesn’t get any better than that. The winner goes forward and becomes the guy when the WBA title is fought for on a mandatory basis. That is the goal, that is the carrot.
"It is big-time boxing in Ipswich. We are in a football stadium and this is huge for Fabio. It is his dream and our job is to try and make these dreams come true. We have delivered as far as that is concerned.
"Saturday will be a really atmospheric night, everybody is going to be behind Fabio, so he has got everything going for him.
"He knows what he has to do, but he is in with someone who is undefeated, had a stellar amateur career and is coming in off a second-round stoppage. He is a form fighter, he can punch and has stopped seven of his 12 opponents.
"This is quality boxing and, from the time I have spent with Fabio, I know what his ambitions are, I know what he wants and everything he has set out to do he has done. It shows what a natural fighting man he is to have done what he’s done and where he is at.”
https://x.com/Queensberry/status/1930971244511232392
In addition to the Wardley-Huni fight, there is an extensive undercard featuring nine other bouts, however, Wardley’s manager and advisor Dillian Whyte is no longer set to fight with the former WBC interim Heavyweight title holder now set for a more profile contest in August.
Gates open at 4.30pm with the event getting under way at 4.40pm with Wardley set to walk on before 9.50pm.
Town have posted a guide to Saturday’s event on their website.