Frazer Clarke leaves Fabio Wardley’s face in a bloody mess as British heavyweight title fight ends in a draw

Fabio Wardley found himself in a bloody disaster, but managed to retain his titles in a split draw with Frazer Clarke on Sunday night.

The two British heavyweights touched gloves at London’s O2 Arena, both looking to establish themselves as one of the top contenders in the blue ribbon division.

It was the defending champion who dropped Clarke in the fifth round, but the fight went the distance and was decided on the judges’ scorecards.

Wardley however retained his belts, but was unable to secure the victory, with the judges scoring the contest as a split draw.

The cards read 114-113 in favor of Wardley, 115-112 in favor of Clarke and the final even card 113-113 saw the fight end in a draw.

Clarke and Wardley started the fight with a good pace. “Big Fraze” landed the best shot of the first round and was brilliant in the opening exchanges.

The fight came alive in the second stanza, with Clarke drawing blood from the Ipswich native’s nose after landing a few short, ripping uppercuts, before the latter closed the round by briefly stunning his rival with a crisp right hook.

An intriguing encounter unfolded with Clarke showing his wealth of experience, but he suffered damage to his left eye in a fourth contusion.

Wardley unloaded a powerful two-handed barrage in the fifth round and his breakthrough finally came, sending his rival to the canvas with a pounding right hand just before the final bell.

The experienced amateur recovered well around the halfway mark and was able to settle down, with Wardley clearly feeling the pace after his encouraging assault.

The momentum continued to swing in Wardley’s favor and even more so in the seventh round, with Clarke having a point deducted by the referee after landing a low blow.

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Wardley looked beaten despite his ascendancy, his nose full of blood and potentially broken as the fight approached the ninth.

Clarke was still in the fight and landing a job of his own, while Wardley suffered nose injuries in the tenth who was cleared to continue after a brief intervention from the ring doctor.

It felt like the young fighter was on borrowed time, with a gruesome injury that saw blood pouring all around the ring, in addition to his right eye closing at a rate of knots.

But the fight went the distance despite a thrilling final round and saw the event end in a hard-earned draw.

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