FABIO WARDLEY has knocked out Frazer Clarke in round one of their blockbuster rematch.The champ came out of the traps in rapid fashion and caught the challenger with some huge blows.Wardley landed a devastating right to floor Clarke – forcing the referee to wave the bout off after just two minutes and 28 seconds.All the action from this stacked Saudi card, which sees Artur Beterbiev fight Dmitry Bivol at the top of the bill, can be caught on our independent LIVE BLOGTV channel: DAZN / Sky Sports Box Office / TNT Sports Box OfficeLive stream: DAZN app / NOW TV / discovery+CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSFollow ALL the action from Wardley vs Clarke 2 below…Bivol grateful for opportunity, why not a rematch?Bivol expressed his gratitude for having the opportunity and said he “doesn’t have any explanations” because it would sound like excuses, having suffered a first professional defeat tonight.”Congrats to Artur and his team, he deserves it. I don’t know, just did my job and felt I could do better – always feel that way – I didn’t see the fight, he won so what can I say?”Bivol says Beterbiev’s very powerful – no kidding – and cites a bruise on his hand from all the rough-housing, while you can see cuts around his eyes. A rematch? “Why not, of course if I have the chance then yes, this is my dream.Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev: It was uncomfortableHow do you feel, Artur? “I feel… not bad! It wasn’t tough, it was uncomfortable… of course it was a tough fight but [out of us two], Allah chose me.On in-fight changes and confidence in the result: “I always try to change something but I wanted to punch him [more], maybe that’s why I didn’t deliver more punches today. I felt uncomfortable because usually I’m not waiting [for the scorecards].”On the instruction from his corner before R10, telling him he needed a knockout to prevail: “They always say that!”He’s happy to have finally gone the full 12-round, 36-minute distance and pointed to prior experience as a key factor on this occasion in a bout of very fine margins indeed. Rematch feels inevitable next year.Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev wins via majority decision!The bout went to the scorecards for the first time in Artur Beterbiev’s professional career and, given his pressure as well as the impact of his work down the stretch… he gets the nod! 114-114, 115-113, 116-112 the scores as Beterbiev inflicts Bivol’s first career defeat to clinch undisputed status at 175lbs, with a performance that he could’ve done even more in! Wow.Post-fight comments coming.Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R12Into the decder they go, Beterbiev the aggressor and Bivol lands three combos to push him back – very briefly – that relentless pressure persists before Bivol is again warned for pulling the head down when clinching. He won’t mind, he’s trying to avoid a late avalanche of pressure and it’s working as they head into the final minute. Beterbiev throws more power punches but Bivol evades, they’ll need the scorecards…Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R11Bivol unloads a flurry, then Beterbiev does the same and starts throwing uppercuts in the pocket as Bivol teeters away and tries to halt the surge of momentum, tying up momentarily. Bivol shelling up isn’t a good look as Beterbiev advances with another successful pummelling attack, of which there have been many! Final round coming up and it’s still all to play for, hangs in the balance…Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R10Beterbiev with a better stanza as far as punch connects are concerned, Bivol picking his moments though as Artur finishes it strong. Bivol in control, though these spirited bursts can often change the perception of a swing round…Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R9Bivol lands body-head-body, his left hand has found the mark and unsurprisingly that confidence continues to soar as he probably banks another hard-fought round, where Beterbiev’s pressure is patchy and he’s unable to keep this fight at short or mid-distance.Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R8Again, another partially blocked right still pushes Bivol back a few paces midway through another tense round without much noteworthy action to speak of. Bivol’s narrowly missed with a few power hooks, while Beterbiev does the same before they exchange furiously to finish a stanza Bivol kept at his own speed. That suits him far more, can he maintain this?Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R7You can see Beterbiev thinking a lot but throwing less as Bivol pounces, using time against him to throw more flurries and combos in the spaces where he’s not committing forward. Right on cue then, Bivol unloads a bit more than you’d expect and is immediately punished – the final minute sees evasive action needed as Beterbiev builds up scoring punches.Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R6Into the sixth and Beterbiev’s leaning on his earlier body punching, as subtle as it may have seemed. He’s got the crowd going again, Bivol lands a series of punches before Artur answers back with a flurry of his own and Bivol’s screw left jab stops him in his tracks momentarily.Beterbiev needs to be more active, Bivol’s tight defence and movement is stifling that though. When he lands… it’s a worry.Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R5Bivol bobs and weaves out of trouble, armed with the high guard, to keep Beterbiev hitting his gloves and not piercing the defences. They exchange cuffing right hands, Beterbiev gets the crowd going after landing a powerful jab and pressing… the bell comes to Bivol’s aid after trading a little too much for comfort there late!Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R4Into the fourth and Beterbiev, known as a slow-starter, absorbs another slick Bivol flurry before landing a disguised body shot. Still stalking his prey, Beterbiev lands a few rights and Bivol shells up momentarily while retreating before firing back off the ropes as the lateral movement is being stress-tested, though that jab continues to make the unified champion think twice before entering.Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R3Beterbiev gets a face full of jabs early to start the stanza, Bivol emboldended to open up more again and connects flush on a combo but again, needs to be careful… even the partially blocked punches are having an impact and this continues to heat up, evidenced by them trading – briefly – at the end of another competitive round.Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R2Bivol lands a partially blocked left hand to start the stanza, then opens up with a combo as Beterbiev walks forward unbothered, almost welcoming the punches as they fly towards him at speed.Bivol’s boxing well off the back foot but can’t afford to keep going backwards, even if Beterbiev is noticeably more measured with his output than normal. Copy linkCopiedBeterbiev vs. Bivol R1 Rapid ringwalks to grand acclaim, introductions out of the way and the two unbeaten world champions standing opposite one another. Moments away now from the first bell as referee Thomas Taylor reminds them about beltlines… we’re off! Tense start and naturally so, Bivol jabbing to the body and Beterbiev looks purposeful with his subtle moments, waiting to land a fight-altering punch. Jabs to the body are his mode of attack, Bivol fires with a jab combo as they exchange at short-range in centre ring, Bivol looking to open up and take centre, the patience will need to be at another level tonight from *that* Canelo performance if he’s to keep Artur away. Beterbiev lands a sneaky right hand, the round’s best punch, in the final seconds. Ooooh, this is gonna be good!Copy linkCopiedMain event moments away…Artur Beterbiev’s blockbuster light-heavyweight clash against Dmitry Bivol is moments away with the main event reportedly brought forward this evening.Due to the rapid undercard and Fabio Wardley needing just two minutes and 28 seconds to knockout Frazer Clarke in the Co-main event, Beterbiev vs Bivol will take place earlier than expected.For round-by-round updates of the huge undisputed clash, follow SunSport’s independent LIVE BLOG.Copy linkCopiedThen there was one…Stay tuned for the main event, when unified champion Artur Beterbiev faces WBA titleholder Dmitry Bivol in a long-awaited showdown for all the marbles at light-heavyweight. It’ll be the first time since the four-belt era that a new king reigns at 175lbs. I’ve been told we have just under an hour to wait, by virtue of quick stoppage victories for Chris Eubank Jr and (pressingly!) Fabio Wardley’s first-round destruction job at Frazer Clarke’s expense.I’ll still be here but James Anderson is poised to take you through the action, so click and follow that live blog commentary here. Ready?Copy linkCopiedWarren stays winning!After Raven Chapman sadly fell well short in her WBC world featherweight title shot against Skye Nicolson earlier tonight, Frank Warren will be delighted that his new signee Fabio Wardley has done exactly as he outlined in Thursday’s presser: make a statement! Heavyweight boxing is so unpredictable that you never really know when a new contender emerges to become a mainstay within the world-level landscape, much like Agit Kabayel and Martin Bakole have done – powered by Riyadh Season cards – over the past year or so.Wardley, trained by highly-rated coach Ben Davison, shares him with former unified champion Anthony Joshua and rising teen star Moses Itauma among others, and it’ll be interesting to see how Warren manoevures him in next given those highly-ranked contenders now. As for Clarke, who made his 10th professional appearance tonight and turned 33 in August, one can only wonder how he rebuilds after such a stunning stoppage defeat. Unlike their March meeting, what positives can he possibly take from a conclusive first career defeat?Copy linkCopiedAND STILL! Wardley speaks…R1, 2:28 is the official time of the stoppage, in what was a tentative round for 90 seconds or so… Round 13 indeed, true to his word!Wardley on his fast finish: “Always know once I’ve hurt someone, I get rid of them. Went into the first fight with a lot of background stuff, my team said maybe we should pull out, had a couple of issues but we fixed them and got the gameplan right, executed on the night.””Sometimes it takes a little bit of brains, I took enough from the first fight where I had success but needed to be a bit cuter, set things up and disguise them. I can’t help it! War by name and nature.”He concluded the interview saying while his series of titles look great, he wants to become a world champion and doubled down on a desire to return to Saudi shores after two stoppages in Riyadh a year apart.Credit: GettyCopy linkCopiedWardley with concussive R1 finish!There are several concerned people in the ring around Clarke’s corner, Wardley passionately celebrating and shoving team members off him to get his point across, we’ll see what he’s unhappy about shortly. Eventually Clarke rises to his feet and the pair share a nice moment, while replays show the sequence of events which led to the finish.Clarke looked like he’d been snake-bitten, Wardley pounced to body-and-head. Having spun him around off the ropes while still unsteady, a three-punch combo was all she wrote – an overhand right to end it.Copy linkCopiedWardley vs. Clarke R1We’re off! A promotional showdown between Frank Warren and Ben Shalom too, which adds another interesting layer if you’re so inclined. Clarke feinting plenty in the early going, looking to flick out that jab and see what sort of reactions the champion gives him in response.Wardley throws an overhand right that wobbles Clarke, he looks hurt and certainly is! Just like that, pinned in the corner, he’s crumbled to a knee and ref Victor Loughlin wisely waves it off after a five-count.Clarke looks worse for wear, his face tells the story and it’s all over!Credit: GettyCopy linkCopiedRingwalk and introduction time!Clarke savours the moment on stage with two songs, the second lyrically modified to prop him up at Wardley’s expense – think Zhilei Zhang against Joseph Parker (didn’t go very well for him but hey…)Wardley walks out to Can’t Be Touched and the lyrics for that are fitting for the must-watch fighting style he possesses too. Round 13 anyone? We’re about to see whether Fabio is true to his word.Copy linkCopiedWardley-Clarke 2 up next…It’s almost time for the evening’s chief support bout and without wanting to jinx it, I must say, things are flying by – refreshing. Opetaia’s doing his post-fight interviews ringside and taking pictures with local fans after a destructive performance that will only whet the appetite for him to face the CBS-Zurdo winner in early 2025.Alalshikh told ESPN in early May that he originally planned to match the Beterbiev-Bivol loser with Opetaia, who could very well move up to join the cruiserweight ranks in 12-18 months’ time. Who knows?Copy linkCopiedOpetaia speaks…WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Jr watched ringside and that title will be on the line come November 16 when Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez boxes WBO champion Chris Billam-Smith in a Riyadh unification duel.On what was a near flawless title defence: “I felt good, nothing but respect to Jack and his family, big thanks to my family too… we jumped through some hurdles to get here, so many ups and downs but we stayed strong and together… the ins and outs of boxing.” R6, 2:00 was the official time of the TKO (corner retirement), as the 29-year-old – who won his $1.6m legal case against former promoter Dean Lonergan on Thursday – has even more reason to celebrate.Copy linkCopiedOpetaia stops Massey in the sixth!In round five, I can hear more of Massey’s support team further back in the crowd barking insutrctions, urging their man to throw with Opetaia and match his pace. If you could ever show a novice an example of levels in this sport, it’d be this fight unfolding right here. Massey’s a bloodied mess through five rounds and Jai is jogging on the spot between rounds unbothered, almost as if he’s sparring.”Don’t let him back you up,” is the cry from Jonas, but it’s falling on deaf ears as Massey is being picked apart further… Joe Gallagher wisely throws the towel in and no-one can have any complaints really.Credit: GettyCopy linkCopied More
