Fabio Wardley was waiting to board a flight at Heathrow Airport with his partner and young daughter when an unexpected call about Oleksandr Usyk made him a Heavyweight Champion.
Just over a week earlier, he had produced the standout performance of his career, stopping Joseph Parker in the 11th round at London’s O2 Arena. The victory secured the WBO interim heavyweight title, and Wardley was heading to Dubai for a family holiday to celebrate. What he did not know was that by the time he boarded the plane, he would be a full world champion.
Oleksandr Usyk had decided to vacate the WBO belt rather than negotiate a fight, a move that elevated Wardley to world heavyweight champion and made him the 11th Briton to hold the title.
“It was my management team on the phone explaining what was about to happen,” Wardley told The Ring. “They said it would be announced in a few hours and congratulated me. Then they hung up. It was like someone calling to say you’ve won the lottery and you’re thinking, ‘Right… OK.’
“I put the phone down and suddenly I was world champion. Before that, I wasn’t. I just stared into space for a moment and thought, ‘I’m world champion-am I?’ It didn’t feel real. Nothing changed, but everything changed. I still got on the plane like normal.”
Wardley’s rise has been extraordinarily rapid. Having begun his boxing journey with just four white-collar bouts, he has reached the pinnacle of the sport in only 21 professional fights. Promoter Frank Warren described it as one of the most remarkable stories he has witnessed in more than four decades in boxing.
Even so, the 30-year-old from Ipswich admits the manner of his title win was not ideal.
“It sounds silly to complain about winning a world title,” he said. “But it’s frustrating. If Usyk was going to vacate the belt anyway, why not do it before me and Parker fought? Now I’ve got to defend it to really feel like I’ve earned it.
“If the title had been officially on the line that night, that would have been the perfect way to win it.”
Usyk’s decision followed a puzzling period for the Ukrainian great. After knocking out Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in July to reclaim the IBF title, he was ordered to defend the WBO belt against Parker. A back injury earned him a medical exemption, even as footage later surfaced of Usyk dancing during his recovery.
Rather than wait, Parker chose to fight Wardley-a decision that proved costly when he was stopped. With Wardley emerging victorious, Usyk opted to vacate the title instead of pursuing the fight.
The former undisputed champion has since expressed interest in a bout with ex-WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder, despite the American losing four of his last five fights. Wardley finds the move surprising.
“Usyk has always taken the toughest challenges,” Wardley said. “So choosing Wilder feels out of character. He’s earned the right to fight who he wants, but people notice when it doesn’t fit the pattern.”
Attention will now turn to Wardley himself. Ranked No. 2 by The Ring with a record of 20-0-1 and 19 knockouts, he is expected to make his first title defence around March or April. The WBO is yet to confirm his mandatory challenger.
Moses Itauma currently tops the WBO rankings, followed by Filip Hrgovic and Zhilei Zhang, with Daniel Dubois close behind.
“The heavyweight division is stacked,” Wardley said. “There are big fights everywhere, for different reasons-style, story, history. I’m happy to take them on.”
For Wardley, the challenge now is to prove that his reign as world champion will be defined not by a phone call in an airport lounge, but by what he does once he steps back into the ring.
