Frazer Clarke can fight Fabio Wardley this year – but on his terms, says promoter Ben Shalom
The Frazer Clarke vs Fabio Wardley fight can still be made, says promoter Ben Shalom.
Clarke, the Olympic super-heavyweight bronze medallist, could challenge British champion Fabio Wardley later this year. But BOXXER promoter Ben Shalom says Clarke should have a scheduled 10-round contest first.
Clarke’s team withdrew from the purse bids for the Wardley bout so the championship fight could be made on that timeline.
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Highlights of Frazer Clarke against Bogdan Dinu as the Olympic bronze medallist maintained his perfect start to life in the professional ranks
“The reason why we pulled him out the bid is he’s fought [scheduled] six-rounders up until now. His last fight went two rounds. We’re not going to sling him in. [If it went to purse bids] you’d have to be taking a 12-rounder potentially in three weeks’ time, with no preparation,” Shalom told Sky Sports.
“It’s not that he won’t beat Fabio Wardley, he’d beat Fabio Wardley on his first fight. But he’s not going to be fighting a 12-rounder in three weeks’ time. So that’s why we’ve made the offer. He will be doing a 10-rounder first and we’ve made an offer to Fabio to take the fight [after].
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- Clarke can fight Wardley this year – but on his terms, says Shalom
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“It’s best for him to have a 10-rounder before he fights his first 12-rounder. Everyone that’s ever put on a pair of gloves, or ever trained a fighter will tell you, you don’t go from a six-rounder to a 12-rounder overnight, regardless of the quality of opponent.”
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Frazer Clarke broke Bogdan Dinu’s ribs as he secured his sixth straight win as a professional
Though the purse bids will not happen, talks with Wardley’s team are still on going.
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Shalom also said: “One of the offers is a one-fight deal, no [further] obligation whatsoever.”
Staging the fight later in the year would also allow more time to make it an even bigger event.
“It’s a big fight for British boxing. We’re happy to work with any promoter. When we’ve been dealing with Fabio Wardley’s team, they never once asked us to speak to Matchroom, who we’d have been happy to speak to,” Shalom said.
Image: Olympic medallist Clarke is six fights into his professional career
“This isn’t about a promoter thing, this is about getting a fight together between two fighters and making it as big as possible. We see it as a massive fight for British boxing. We want to build it into the biggest possible spectacle and do it at a time that suits us.
“We talk about career-high pay days, this is a small payday in the career of Frazer Clarke. You can see the interest in him. This is a boxing decision where a fighter needs saving from himself given he’s not had a 10-rounder yet.”
“We have made the offer,” Shalom continued. “We do want the fight.
“One 10-rounder is all we feel he needs, but we feel it’s a necessary step and we won’t be pushed into a fight that isn’t on Frazer Clarke’s terms.
“He’s the A-side here. He’s the big name and he’s the one that will have these fights on the terms that he wants.”
Sourse: skysports.com
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