FABIO WARDLEY got brilliant and brutal revenge on genuine enemy David Adeleye in a vicious desert duel.
At the start of September, the launch press conference for the Saudi Arabia extravaganza – headlined by Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou – in London was marred by a brawl between the pair.
The perfectly decent fellas crossed paths on the red carpet and exchanged words, Suffolk puncher Wardley approached Adeleye, 25, and was shoved back.
A member of Adeleye’s entourage got involved and appeared to throw two strikes that floored Wardley, 28, and left him with cuts on his left eyebrow and chin.
The pair buried the hatchet to ensure the bout went ahead and the British Boxing Board of Control let them contest Wardley’s Lonsdale belt in Riyadh, when usually restricted to UK soil.
And Wardley settled the feud once and for all with a magnificent seventh-round stoppage after battering his foe to the floor.
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As chief support to the mega-money bout between Fury and Ngannou in the 20,000-seater stadium right next door, both men understandably made tentative starts.
Wardley’s straight right hand to 26-year-old Adeleye’s body was his best blow.
Ladbroke Grove ace Adeleye lashed back with a lead left hook that was defended well by the Tractor Boy.
At the start of round two Adeleye landed a peach of a jab that snapped 28-year-old Wardley’s head back.
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But when the London challenger tried the same shot moments later, Wardley countered with a sweet right hand and added a second shortly after to take the stanza.
The pair traded left hooks evenly at the start of the third but then Wardley fired off a volley and Adeleye used his forearm as defence and got a warning.
Wardley then luzzed a wild right hand in Adeleye’s direction and when it missed by a mile he looked out into the sky toward Beirut to mock the inaccurate effort.
Wardley was starting to show his 16-0 experience by the fourth and Adeleye needed to use a headlock after shipping a double-jab-right-hand combination that earned the defending champ another session.
By the fifth round Wardley’s crisp, snapping jab was proving the difference.
Adeleye’s lunges impressed the casual crowd but the judges would have known better.
There was a thrilling little firefight just before the bell where Adeleye proved his chin for the first time in his 12-0 career.
Adeleye had Wardley buzzed at the start of round six with a chopping left hook but he smothered his work and illegally used his forearm as a ramrod again.
The referee paused the action to give Adeleye another verbal warning and gift Wardley crucial recovery time which he then used and dominated the rest of the round.
And then in the seventh round, Wardley got the sweetish revenge possible by destroying his enemy with a magnificent left hook that folded him dangerously into the ropes.
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Somehow Adeleye beat the count, he even stuck his tongue out and grinned as he climbed back to his feet.
But his mind was a mess and after a few more punches John Latham correctly saved Adeleye from a dangerous pasting.
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
