Frazer Clarke will supersede Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury to British heavyweight record if he beats Fabio Wardley

31/03/2024 11:18

In his latest exclusive talkSPORT.com column, Ben Shalom previews Sunday’s domestic dust-up between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke.

Frazer Clarke is set to become the fastest-ever British heavyweight champion this weekend when he squares off against Fabio Wardley for the Lonsdale belt in only his ninth professional outing.

Wardley defends his British and Commonwealth titles against Clarke on March 31

By comparison, it took Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua 15 fights to get to this point.

Nobody can accuse Clarke of moving slowly, his rise has been unprecedented.

Some will say this opportunity has come too soon.

But for me, everything is on course. We wanted him to become British champion within 10 fights.

He has the chance to do that early and then move on to bigger and better things.

Where the winner goes

The winner of this fight finds themselves in a great position.

We are expecting a huge audience after the football on Sunday.

Fury and Joshua won the British title in their fifteenth pro fights – Clarke fights for it in his ninth

There will be several households, who don’t usually watch boxing, tuning in for this fight and that is when pay-per-view stars are created.

If Clarke gets his hand raised then we will be targeting blockbuster nights for him.

He is one of those boxers who struggles to get up for the fights that he doesn’t feel he will be tested in.

That comes from having a long amateur career and being in there with the best names constantly.

He wants to get right up there whether that is the British scene or the world scene after this fight.

There will be no turning back after Wardley.

The ultimate proving ground

We will find out just how good Clarke is on Sunday night.

Clarke opens up as an underdog with the bookies

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I can sit here and speculate about how far he can go in the pro game.

But the truth is I’ve never seen him in a twelve-round fight in front of a packed-out O2 Arena against an opponent who has the capability to knock him out.

I’m confident in Clarke’s ability given the number of fights and the level of opposition he has faced in the amateurs.

However, this is a totally different beast. He is going to have to show maturity, he is going to have to show composure, he is going to have to show mental strength.

His talent is undeniable. Now, has to prove that he can do it on the big nights.

talkSPORT will bring you live and exclusive heavyweight commentary of Fabio Wardley vs Frazer Clarke on Sunday, March 31 from the O2 Arena.