Fabio Wardley delivers stunning comeback knockout out of nowhere to beat Justis Huni to became WBA interim heavyweight champion in hometown fight at Portman Road

By ADAM POGRUND

Fabio Wardley delivered a stunning knockout blow on Justis Huni to become the WBA interim heavyweight champion at his homecoming fight in Ipswich.

The Brit was trailing Huni on the scorecards but sent him tumbling with a remarkable right hand in the 10th round at Ipswich Town’s Portman Road and could now face the winner of Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois. 

The thumping punch sent the 20,000 crowd crazy and Wardley celebrated wildly after the referee waved the fight off.

Huni, who had boasted an unbeaten record, replaced American Jarrell Miller with just five weeks notice and appeared to be in complete control of the fight. 

Wardley’s lip was cut in the seventh round and he was clearly behind entering the final rounds. 

But the 30-year-old from Ipswich dramatically stole victory with a perfect punch, sending Huni to the floor. 

The Brit was trailing Huni on the scorecards but sent him tumbling with a remarkable right hand

Fabio Wardley delivered a stunning blow to become the WBA interim heavyweight champion 

Speaking to DAZN after the fight, he said: ‘Before we say anything, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone in this building tonight. 

I’ve been on this weird and wonderful journey in boxing and I wouldn’t be here without you. This isn’t just for me, it’s for all of you.

‘I don’t profess to being any Usyk or Justis Huni who has all the skills, but I know how to win fights and that’s one thing I knew I had to do tonight.

‘Justis Huni is a great operator. We’d drilled everything over and over again. I should’ve performed better in some of those rounds.

‘He’s a great boxer, some great skills and he showed me everything he had tonight. I didn’t expect to bank rounds like that with Justis. 

‘I hurt him a bit in the first round and maybe I had too much confidence early on.’

Huni said: ‘That’s my curse. I even said before this fight it only takes one second to switch off, it happened tonight. I’m grateful to Fabio and his team and to Ipswich to be able to perform in front of you. Get behind him, he’s going to do great things.

‘He’s just an awesome fighter. He never gave up and he got the win, he deserves it. Thank you Ipswich for the opportunity to perform here, I’m grateful.

Huni, who had boasted an unbeaten record, replaced Jarrell Miller with just five weeks notice

The Australian appeared to be in complete control of the fight before the stunning knockout

The 30-year-old from Ipswich could now face the winner of Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois 

Asked if Wardley could face Usyk or Dubois, promoter Frank Warren said: ‘After that fight, it will settle the heavyweight division now to know who will be the mandatories.

‘He is there. He’s going to take a bit of time out now. Let the dust settle. He’s in the position and he’s done that through sheer grit, sheer hear.’

He added: ‘Eat your heart out Deontay Wilder, that was a Deontay Wilder moment. He’s got a big heart, he’s a powerful man and again, he stopped another one. 

‘I’ve got to take my hat off to Justis Huni, they both boxed very well. Ipswich, you did him proud and he did Ipswich proud too.’ 

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Fabio Wardley delivers stunning comeback knockout out of nowhere to beat Justis Huni to became WBA interim heavyweight champion in hometown fight at Portman Road

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