Fabio Wardley, way behind on cards, KO's Huni with one shot in 10th
Stays undefeated and wins vacant WBA interim heavyweight title
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There is no secret about Fabio Wardley’s style. He’s a power puncher through and through. A stylish boxer he is not.
Justis Huni, on the other hand, is not known as a big puncher but has tremendous skills and hand speed and the sort of deep amateur background Wardley could only dream of.
For most of their fight, Huni put his assets to good work as he outboxed and outfought Wardley, who was way behind on all three scorecards going into the 10th round.
But then Wardley landed his best punch of the fight — a clean right hand on the chin that knocked Huni out to win the vacant WBA interim heavyweight title in the main event of the Queensberry Promotions card on Saturday on DAZN.
The knockout of the year contender sent the crowd of some 20,000 in the rain at Portman Stadium in Wardley’s hometown of Ipswich, England, into a frenzy and gave Wardley the biggest win of his career.
“I don’t profess to be any kind of (Oleksandr) Usyk, Justis Huni, someone with all the skills,” said Wardley, who had no amateur career and only a few white collar bouts before turning pro in 2017. “But one thing I do know how to do is win fights. Dig deep, find a bit of heart, bite down on that gum shield and find a way to win, and that’s one thing I had to do tonight.”