Fabio Wardley reveals 'two main priorities' for 2024 and why David Adeleye win 'closed a chapter' in career

Fabio Wardley has revealed his “two main priorities” for 2024 as he looks to move closer to a world title shot.

Wardley retained his British heavyweight title and won the WBO European and vacant Commonwealth heavyweight titles with victory over David Adeleye in October.

He has won all 17 of his professional fights, with 16 via knockout.

Wardley could next be in action in February and has told TNT Sports' Steve Bunce about what he hopes to have achieved by this time next year.

“I would definitely have defended the British title once if not twice,” he said.

“A big milestone I would like to tick off is fighting in my hometown of Ipswich and doing that at [Ipswich Town's stadium] Portman Road, that’s something I would really like to do. They are keen, so that’s definitely there to be done. For an event that big you need the right dance partner so that’s an obstacle.

“Between defending my belts a few times and ticking off a home fight they are my main two priorities.

“I think coming to 2025 I have two or three more wins, look at the landscape, the belts are probably fragmented or on the edge of, and then I look at what path am I am taking for a world title.”

Wardley was pushed to seven rounds last time before stopping Adeleye in Saudi Arabia.

The 29-year-old was a late starter into boxing and only had his first professional fight in 2017.

He thinks the win over Adeleye “closed a chapter” on a part of his career where he perhaps wasn’t viewed as a fully-fledged fighter.

“That was a real full stop,” he said.

“I think before that because of my different background into boxing, that is why that tag held on for so long. People thought the wheels would come off.

“All the trials I have had to go through, maybe a few more to prove myself to get the recognition among hardcore boxing fans and also casual fans who are a bit more sceptical. But I think the book is closed on that now."

Whoever he fights next, Wardley insists he is keen to remain an entertainer in the ring.

“It’s a core of me and something I never want to lose.

“I understand the sport for what it is. It’s an entertainment sport. There are some great fighters who are great boxers but are not the most entertaining to watch or don’t get to fight on big cards because they are not deemed entertaining, however good they might be. You have to understand you can be a good boxer but you also have to entertain the people and I love doing that.

“I love when someone comes up to me and goes ‘I watched your fight and you got hit there but you came back and did that’. That’s my favourite bit, rather than ‘you boxed him apart and cleaned him out’. That’s good as well but because you can feel that excitement in conversation with a person…I do thrive off that.

“You have seen that in my fights. When things get hot, pressured, and a bit uncomfortable that’s when I am like ‘OK, let’s go for it’.”

With Wardley not fighting again this year, he will be able to watch as a fan when Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua compete on the same card in Saudi Arabia on December 23.

Joshua will take on Otto Wallin on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ while Wilder meets Joseph Parker.

Looking ahead to the night as a “massive lover” of the sport, Wardley said: “Obviously December was as a massive event but one I don’t mind stepping aside and skipping, I enjoy Christmas and a mince pie too much!

“It’s great as well because I get to be a fan and be on the other side.

“The sport sucked me from a late age but when it grabbed hold of me it grabbed me and I was in. The love and the care and really watching as my boxing IQ has developed and I’ve got a deeper appreciation for fights and the technicalities of it and the struggles of fighters because I know what they go through with the camp and injuries and other stuff.

“It has a deeper layer for me to give it more of an appreciation. I am a massive lover of the sport.”

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