Fabio Wardley is an underdog again — just the manner he likes it

Fabio Wardley is in a reflective temper. On Saturday evening, he rematches Daniel Dubois for the WBO heavyweight title inside London’s O2 Arena, 163 days after dropping it to the same man, along with his unbeaten report as a skilled.

“Honestly, it’s a great feeling,” Wardley defined at a press convention. It is not the response you might expect from a fighter working at the summit of boxing’s most unforgiving division. But Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KOs) was referring to his return to the function of the underdog — a place he embraced all through his unconventional, well-documented journey from white-collar boxing to the paid ranks.

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“I actually really love it. It feels more natural, more weightless,” Wardley said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic being a world champion and holding that belt. But now I just feel free. The talk around the fight has changed. I’m back to being expected to lose, and things going worse for me.”

He’s not mistaken.

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After Wardley’s defeat to Dubois (23-3, 22 KOs) in May, a thrilling, grotesque and fascinating Fight of the Year contender, you would have struggled to discover more than a handful of people inside Manchester’s Co-op Live keen to predict a return before the finish of the 12 months. 

A rematch with the same man who had left Wardley’s face bloodied and disfigured? That appeared more inconceivable still. And that’s before a suggestion that he could discover himself in a place to reverse the end result.

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The 11 rounds they shared were, at instances, uncomfortable viewing. In the aftermath, I wrote that the battle was a “sobering reminder of boxing’s bravery complicated“.

Yet here we are, just days away from these two giants operating it back, and much of that discomfort has evaporated. The anticipation has returned. The discuss is of potential redemption and another heavyweight battle.

It is one of boxing’s great contradictions: the same brutality that makes us query the sport’s limits is typically what makes us determined to see it occur all over again.

But this time, as the 31-year-old from Ipswich is all too conscious, he is priced as long as +300 with bookmakers to have his hand raised in victory.

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The only other time in Wardley’s 22-fight skilled profession he has entered a contest as an underdog was against Joseph Parker last October. The end result? The most interesting victory of his profession, as he turned world heavyweight champion for the first time.

Just 173 days later, he lost the crown to “Dynamite” Dubois.

Now, with the odds stacked against him once more, Wardley must discover a manner to repeat the trick against the very man who took his title — and left him with the scars to show it.

“I’ve been proving people wrong for I don’t know how many years now,” Wardley said. “Seemingly for me, it’s better when I’m told I’m going to be the underdog and I’m going to lose, that this is a level too far for me.

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“I’m the challenger and chaser and actually for me it all just feels like, ‘This is it, this is the good bit that I loved for the previous however many years on my rise and on my manner up.’ It feels great.”

Claiming to thrive in the role of the underdog or B-side is sometimes used by those fighters who are trying to convince the world of their chances in combat. It’s a natural, reflex position to take. Hundreds of fighters have told me that they are happy being disregarded in a fight to catch their opponent cold, but I suspect only a few truly mean it. 

But Wardley does. And he articulates why very impressively. 

“A relaxed fighter is snug and assured, and I think that’s always helpful, so this improves my possibilities,” Wardley said. “I always really feel like the underdog — always. I always carry that mentality.

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“The way I came up, that’s the way it’s got to be. It’s backs against the wall, ready to bite and attack.”

It’s a humbling strategy from a man who is the yin to the yang of Dubois’ cold, unapproachable fight-week nature. Wardley during battle week is like no other fighter I have come across: He’s open, relaxed, keen to discuss, discuss and discuss. 

There is no separation between fighter and media. Wardley — as much as this can be said — feels like one of us. He’ll share in jokes. Self-reflect. He’s ready to snort at himself — a uncommon trait in the machismo-filled world of skilled boxing. 

And it is this self-awareness that could help Wardley make the needed changes this weekend. He has spoken of his reluctance to “throw the baby out with the bath water” when it comes to his staff. The trust stays. There is no need for wholesale change, just a few tweaks to the recreation plan.

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“I wouldn’t be anywhere without their faith in me,” Wardley said about his staff. “My mantra is to keep it as simple as possible. My team hasn’t changed for five or six years. They are all invested, they’ve lived through all the moments; the good and the bad. There’s a different level of attachment there. That’s why I trust them so much.”

Wardley has also contemplated changing into a “victim” of his “own success,” both across his profession and during those 11 brutal rounds in May. Winning can breed complacency, he suggests. When success becomes the norm, it is straightforward to believe what has labored before will always work again.

That performed out in microcosm against Dubois. Wardley dropped the Londoner twice in the opening three rounds and appeared to have the higher hand. But he won the early battles only to lose the battle, his initial success perhaps encouraging him to believe he could keep forcing the battle on his phrases.

This time, the problem is not merely to repeat what labored in those opening rounds. It is to acknowledge what went mistaken when the momentum shifted — and to resist the temptation to make the same errors twice.

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Wardley is relying on discovering those cited changes. “I’ve got a proven track record in doing so,” he explains, referring to his two-fight affair with Frazer Clarke. The second assembly completed inside one spherical, seven months after a contested split-decision draw.

“Maybe a loss is worse in your imagination than it is in reality,” he said. “Maybe it’s good to get that off my back. I didn’t start in boxing thinking it would never happen and I would go undefeated.”

They say a pleased fighter is a harmful fighter, but what of the fighter with a weight lifted? Wardley may enter the ring Saturday as heavy as 250 kilos, but in his eyes, he’s never felt lighter.