Following his KO defeat, Australian heavyweight Justis Huni summed up the punching power and ability of Fabio Wardley.
Wardley produced a thrilling 10th round stoppage victory over Huni when they locked horns for the WBA interim heavyweight title at Ipswich’s Portman Road stadium last June.
The unbeaten 31-year-old was well behind on the judges scorecards but was able to land a thunderous overhand right hand on Huni, forcing referee John Latham to call a halt to the bout midway through the 10th round.
Wardley would go on to produce yet another outstanding victory in October when he stopped former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker in the penultimate round of their showdown at the O2 Arena in London.
In an interview with FOX Sports ahead of the Parker bout, Huni claimed that Wardley ‘offered nothing’ as a boxer but did have noticeable punching power when they clashed last summer.
“Having been in the ring with Wardley, he obviously has punching power. But in terms of being a boxer, he didn’t really offer anything … I remember being in the ring thinking ‘f*** this feels too easy, it shouldn’t feel like this’. And look, good on Fabio. He caught me. That’s what heavyweight boxing is.”
In the same interview, Huni predicted Parker to win, saying the fight was ‘a walk in the park’ for the New Zealander. That turned out to be far from the case.
One month that win, Wardley was elevated to full WBO world heavyweight champion when former title holder Oleksandr Usyk opted to vacate the crown.
As he prepares to make his return to the ring, the Ipswich fan favourite has been linked with a showdown against former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who recently announced that he would be coming out of retirement in 2026.
