By Mark Baldwin I’VE STILL not watched it back. I don’t want my memories watered down of what I described at the time as the greatest fight I have ever covered from ringside. It’s the closest I’ve come to having that time-honoured tradition for a wannabe scribe of being covered in a fighter’s blood as the crimson splattered profusely from the battered nose of one of the two incredibly brave heavyweights who had given a little too much of themselves for our entertainment.
Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke left a piece of themselves in that London ring. The O2 Arena has seen many a great fight. That was up there with the best of them.
I wondered if they would run it back. I wondered if they should. Could it possibly be anywhere near the standards of what we saw in March? Does that even matter? I wondered if their bodies would appreciate a different route.
A safer passage that wouldn’t quite be so detrimental to career longevity. But this weekend, they will indeed do it all again. They are prizefighters, after all.
That’s what they do. Pride wouldn’t let them walk away without one of them having their hand raised in victory. Wardley and Clarke will be significantly rewarded for their efforts on Saturday night.
A supporting role in the latest Riyadh Season extravaganza. The Kingdom Arena this time will host the rematch. Mixed feelings for this old hack.
An old-fashioned viewpoint that wanted it back in the UK again, and with headline billing. A big domestic heavywei.
