When Fabio Wardley knocked out Justis Huni with a punch from the heavens on Saturday night, he absolutely needed it.
The local boy sent a packed stadium crowd at Portman Road in Ipswich wild with delight as the local boy produced another fairytale with a 10th-round KO victory.
Wardley (now 19-0-1) is now the WBA interim world heavyweight champion and the new mandatory contender for the title held by the great Oleksandr Usyk. He is one fight away from being a world heavyweight champion.
But Fabio came so close to losing for the first time as a pro on Saturday night – he was behind on all scorecards and heading for a comprehensive defeat against a classier opponent who was dominating every round.
The 30-year-old Wardley though has one great equaliser, his massive right hand. As promoter Frank Warren said of the KO afterwards, ‘that was a Deontay Wilder moment’. He could not have put it any better.
Compubox stats for Wardley vs Huni
The punch stats from Saturday’s main event tell the story of a one-sided fight where the tide was turned by just one huge shot. Up to that point the numbers pointed to only one thing – a Huni victory by a landslide on the scorecards (if he didn’t stop Wardley before that).
That incredible straight right that put Huni on his back in Round 10 was the 49th power punch that Wardley landed during the fight – not too shabby. The only problem was, Huni had landed an incredible 114 by comparison, at a success rate of a terrific 51%.
Wardley was a little more prolific with his jab, landing 68 of 217 through the 10 rounds (31.3%) while Huni scored with 45 of 117 (38.5%).
Overall, Wardley landed 117-330 punches at a rate of 35.5% while Huni hit home with 159-342 (46.5%).
The finish to the fight was all the more incredible given the trajectory of the bout – with every round Huni was becoming more dominant. If anything it appeared things were getting too easy, leading to one fatal moment of complacency.
Wardley had landed just 4 power shots between Rounds 6 and 9 as the Australian assumed complete control. Just when he needed it most though, he managed to find the one that really mattered in that tumultuous 10th round.
