Frazer Clarke was left with a sickening dent in the side of his head after suffering a knockout defeat to British heavyweight rival Fabio Wardley in Riyadh.
Clarke and Wardley could not be separated when they first met in March but the latter dominated Saturday’s rematch in Saudi Arabia, knocking out his opponent in the first round to retain his British heavyweight and Commonwealth titles.
Wardley caught Clarke with a devastating right-hand and the referee quickly waved the fight off as Clarke staggered on the ropes after going down.
After being checked over by the doctors, Clarke was taken out of the arena for further treatment but not before fans noticed a sickening dent in his head.
Boxing promoter Frank Warren later said the dent was caused by a suspected fractured cheekbone.
‘Frazer Clarke is being rushed out of the ring here because he still probably doesn’t know where he is. It was such a heavy punch,’ former middleweight world champion Andy Lee said on DAZN.
Ex-British boxing star Darren Barker added: ‘The ones that hit you on the chin are the ones that knock you out but those ones on the temple make your legs go and you can’t get them back.’
Wardley, 29, was understandably delighted with his empathic win over Clarke and said he is now turning his attention to becoming a world champion.
‘I said I’ve got power in each hand and if I hurt someone then I can get rid of them,’ he said in the ring after the knockout victory.
‘I went into that first fight with a couple of issues, we got them fixed up, got the gameplan right, and executed on the night.
‘Sometimes war is needed, and sometimes brains are needed. I said in all interviews that I had success but we needed to be a little bit sweeter.
‘I can’t help it, war by name and war by nature. Once I have my enemies hurt, there’s no help for them unless the bell rings.
‘These belts look great but I want some that say world on them. Whoever has them we have to come back here.
‘There’s something in the air over here, it gives me an extra buzz. Whenever they want me back, I’ll be straight back over.’
Former world champion Nicola Adams also wants Wardley to fight for a world title – but only after one more bout as a tune-up.
‘I want to see him have another [fight] that’s not too far out of his league yet [before a world title fight],’ she said.
Clarke, a Metro columnist, said before the bout that he made one mistake in his first fight against Wardley and vowed not to repeat it on Saturday night.
‘Looking back on the first fight, I suffered that knockdown in the fifth round but it didn’t cause problems for me,’ he said.
‘It was great pressure from Fabio I will give him that, but a mistake from me. But I got up and carried on and I won rounds after that.
‘It wasn’t a heavy knockdown, it didn’t change the fight, it didn’t shape the fight. But it was a mistake on my part so we have to rectify that.
‘To be honest, I do not give a s**t about what Fabio does now. There has been a lot of respect since the first fight.
‘He gained my respect but the reality is, the closer we get to fight night the more I am looking forward to smashing him in his face.
‘Did that night take something out of Fabio? I don’t know. People ask did it take anything out from me? I don’t know who they think I am. I have been ready to go a long time.
‘The reality is, I was ready to go a week after the first fight. We are fighters. We are half super human. We get on with it. It might have taken a lot out of him. It did that to me on the night, but I recovered.
‘A lot of the time the media over-dramatise things. Yeah, it was a war. Yeah, we bashed each other up. Fabio had a little cut on his nose with a bit of blood pouring.
‘That’s how it goes in this game. It was a bit of blood. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I have had a bloody nose or a cut on my face. It’s the most normal thing in the world in this life.
‘It’s sacrifice but after coming so close last March, it will all be worth it next weekend.’
Elsewhere on the card, Artur Beterbiev beat Dmitry Bivol on points to become the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion since 2002.
British star Raven Chapman, meanwhile, was beaten by Australia’s Skye Nicolson in their WBC featherweight world title fight.
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