Ben Shalom provides a preview of Sunday’s domestic bout between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke in his most recent exclusive talkSPORT.com piece.
This Saturday, in just his ninth professional fight, Frazer Clarke will take on Fabio Wardley for the Lonsdale belt, making history as the fastest-ever British heavyweight champion.
Wardley defends his British and Commonwealth titles against Clarke on March 31
By comparison, it took Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua 15 fights to get to this point.
Nobody can accuse Clarke of moving slowly, his rise has been unprecedented.
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Some will say this opportunity has come too soon.
But for me, everything is on course. We wanted him to become British champion within 10 fights.
He has the chance to do that early and then move on to bigger and better things.
Where the winner goes
The winner of this fight finds themselves in a great position.
Fury and Joshua won the British title in their fifteenth pro fights – Clarke fights for it in his ninth.
There will be several households, who don’t usually watch boxing, tuning in for this fight and that is when pay-per-view stars are created.
If Clarke gets his hand raised then we will be targeting blockbuster nights for him.
He is one of those boxers who struggles to get up for the fights that he doesn’t feel he will be tested in.
That comes from having a long amateur career and being in there with the best names constantly.
He wants to get right up there whether that is the British scene or the world scene after this fight.
There will be no turning back after Wardley.
The ultimate proving ground
Clarke opens up as an underdog with the bookies.
I can sit here and speculate about how far he can go in the pro game.
But the truth is I’ve never seen him in a twelve-round fight in front of a packed-out O2 Arena against an opponent who has the capability to knock him out.
I’m confident in Clarke’s ability given the number of fights and the level of opposition he has faced in the amateurs.
However, this is a totally different beast. He is going to have to show maturity, he is going to have to show composure, he is going to have to show mental strength.
His talent is undeniable. Now, has to prove that he can do it on the big nights.
