Frazer Clarke and Fabio Wardley had an amazing draw in a tough British heavyweight title fight Easter Sunday.
Wardley kept the British and Commonwealth belts even though he got a serious nose injury after an exciting fight at the O2 Arena.
Clarke, 32, was trying to become the British heavyweight champion in the fewest fights in just his ninth professional match.
The Olympian was knocked down in the fifth round, but they both fought hard in a very bloody battle in the capital.
Even though both men believed they had done enough to win, judges at the side of the ring scored it as a split decision draw, and a rematch is now a very exciting possibility.
Clarke, an Olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo three years ago, was winning on the scorecards in the middle rounds after making Wardley’s nose bleed in the second.
The momentum changed in an exciting fifth round. Wardley landed a lot of strong punches, chasing his opponent across the ring to cause more damage with a strong jab that eventually knocked the challenger down.
The champion tried to finish strong in the sixth, hitting with a series of straight jabs and getting a point taken away for a low blow in the seventh, putting pressure on Clarke.
But Clarke fought back and regained control, with Wardley’s nose bleeding a lot by the ninth round because of those strong uppercuts.
With the ring mat covered in blood and Wardley’s right eye almost swollen shut, the two had an exciting final round, with both men very tired by the end.
The battle was so brutal that neither man was able to give post-fight interviews in the ring.
But after having another classic British title match, there is hope that the two will meet again in the very near future in the ring.
