Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni – Results & Post-Fight Report

Fabio Wardley picked up a huge win, knocking out Justis Huni in front of a packed out Portman Road in his homecoming fight.

Fabio Wardley returned home for a bout at his beloved Ipswich Town FC, and he pulled a rabbit out of the hat, knocking out Justis Huni in the tenth round of their clash when well behind on the scorecards to claim the vacant interim WBA heavyweight title.

Wardley (19-0-1, KO18) was due to face Jarrell Miller, but the American was forced to withdraw due to a shoulder injury, and Australia’s Huni (12-1, KO7) gave up his lofty ranking with the WBO to take this opportunity at short notice.

Wardley blasted out Frazer Clarke in round one of their rematch last October, while Huni dismissed Shaun Potgieter in two rounds in his last outing in January.

Huni landed a nice left hook in the opener as he made a disciplined start, but a right hand from Wardley troubled the Aussie right on the bell.

After a scrappy second round, the pair exchanged in the third, and Huni was putting his shots together well as his left hand continued to find a home.

Wardley suddenly sprang into life, with a huge left hook of his own shaking Huni to his boots, but Huni ended the third frame strongly.

Wardley came out of the gate from the off in the fourth, upping the volume of his punches, but the visitor was giving as good as he was getting, walking through most of what Wardley was offering.

Huni enjoyed a solid fifth, and was constantly first to the punch, the left hook again connecting in round six as well as swift combinations.

A strong jab drove Wardley backwards towards the ropes in the seventh, and Huni was unloading some heavy shots on his weary opponent, with the writing looking on the wall going into the championship rounds.

One thing you can never predict though is a heavyweight fight, and from nowhere, a huge right hand detonated from Wardley in the tenth, and it poleaxed Huni to the canvas. The referee dispensed with the count, and the fight was over in spectacular fashion.

Pierce O’Leary vs Liam Dillon

The undercard was headed by Pierce O’Leary (17-0, KO9) and he added the vacant European super lightweight title to his WBC International belt with a points win against the tough former British super featherweight champion, Liam Dillon (15-3-1, KO3).

Dillon was jumping up in weight, and O’Leary was a step ahead during the fight, especially to the body.

Dillon was competitive and kept coming at O’Leary, but the Irishman ran out a deserved winner by scores of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113.

Remaining undercard

2024 Olympic Bronze medallist Lewis Richardson (1-0, KO0) made his professional debut, and he banked six rounds in a shutout win at middleweight against Dmitri Protkunas (8-21-1, KO1).

Former world title challenger Mike Perez (31-3-1, KO22) saw off the game challenge of Steven Ward (15-4, KO5), eventually grinding the Irishman down for an ninth-round stoppage win to defend his WBA Intercontinental cruiserweight title.

Ward was down twice in round eight, from cumulative punches, and after he was decked again in the ninth, his corner wisely threw the towel in for their man.

Nelson Hysa (23-0, KO21) successfully defended his WBO European heavyweight title with a second round win against Patrick Korte (22-5-1, KO18).

Korte was forced to take a knee towards the end of the opening round from a right hand, and was all at sea in round two, mainly from Hysa right hands once more. Another big right staggered the German, and he dropped to the deck again, where he was counted out.

Home favourite Jack Williams (3-0, KO1) won all four rounds against Fernando Joaquin Valdez (1-16, KO0) at super bantamweight.

In an eight-round contest, Sam Gilley (18-1-1, KO9) was surprised by Gideon Onyenani (7-5-1, KO0), who held the Commonwealth super welterweight champion to a draw in their meeting at middleweight.
The referee scored the contest a 76-76 stalemate.

Umar Khan (12-0, KO1) won on points in his featherweight contest with Moises Garcia (12-14-1, KO6), scoring a knockdown in a 79-72 success.

Lillie Winch (5-0, KO0) won all six rounds at featherweight against Katerina Dvorakova (3-7, KO3).

In a four-round attraction, super featherweight prospect Billy Adams (7-0, KO0) won all available sessions against Alexander Morales (6-15-5, KO2).