Heavyweight prospect Fabio Wardley’s career is set to skyrocket after the Suffolk stylist signed with world-title contender Dillian Whyte.
The unbeaten Ipswich talent is one of the best young big men in the country, but his progress has stalled with a series of cancelled fights – his last two dust-ups have been axed, one on the day of the fight.
The 23-year-old is 4-0 as a professional, with three straight first round stoppages, but now hasn’t fought since demolishing Ferenc Zsalek at the Corn Exchange in Ipswich back in May.
And so Wardley has decided to part company with manager/promoter Mervyn Turner, of Shamrock Promotions, turning instead to sparring partner Whyte, one of the world’s best heavyweights, who faces Dereck Chisora at the O2 Arena in London on December 22.
“Dillian will be my manager, guiding my career, putting me on shows, proposing fights and giving me access to all the options he has,” said Wardley.
“Mervyn and I came to the agreement that it was going to be best to separate. I didn’t feel like things were going the way I wanted them to. “There was no animosity between us, I just wanted to push my career in a different direction. It’s going to be a very exciting year, year and a half.”
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Wardley, who stressed that he’ll still be based in Ipswich with trainer Robert Hodgins, now hopes to fight on Whyte’s undercard on the huge PPV show at the O2 just before Christmas, and looks set to feature on far higher profile events going forward as he builds his career.
“There’s a possibility of getting on that December 22 card,” Wardley said. “Those sorts of shows are going to be where I mostly am, the shows that are on TV, the bigger shows.
“I’ll be well down the cards to begin with, but it will just be great for me to be fighting on those sorts of events.
“The plan remains the same – the top focus right now is just fighting, racking up ranking points and moving up. I want to get on a roll, and get that area title in the next 9-12 months.
“I also want to say thanks to all my supporters who have stood by me through all these things. There’s a lot which has gone wrong, but in 2019 I’m going to repay all of you.”
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