Fabio Wardley has accused BOXXER of having 'no confidence' in Frazer Clarke and 'running scared' after Ben Shalom pulled the 31-year-old out of their British title clash. Wardley had been ordered to defend his British heavyweight title against Clarke, with the British Boxing Board of Control setting a deadline of Wednesday May 10 for the purse bids. However, just 10 minutes before the purse bids were due to take place, Eddie Hearn tweeted to say that Shalom and BOXXER had pulled Clarke out of the highly-anticipated fight.
Shalom defended his decision, claiming Clarke's limited experience in the professional ranks and lack of rounds would have been problematic. He said he was eager for Clarke to have a 10-round warm-up fight before going into a 12-round British title bout. However, Wardley is adamant that BOXXER are making excuses for Clarke as they have 'no confidence' in his ability, claiming Shalom and his team 'ripped a massive occasion' away from the 31-year-old and the British public.
Speaking exclusively to Mail Sport, Wardley said: 'The bottom line is, they've run away from it. They've run scared. That's the long and short of it unfortunately. They've run away from a fight that they have no confidence in their man to win.' He added: 'For all the talk, for all the we want the British title, we want the Fabio Wardley fight, I think I could beat him now, I think I could beat him in his next fight, I could do this, I could do that... they turned and ran a mile when D-day came.'
Wardley said that Clarke has the 'wrong people around him' such as BOXXER and Sky. He told Mail Sport: 'I think it's Ben [Shalom]. That's the credit I will give to Frazer. I do believe a part of him wants the fight. I believe he is surrounded by the wrong people. He's been advised by the wrong people and he's got the wrong people in his ear in terms of BOXXER, in terms of Sky, in terms of 258 [management].'
Eddie Hearn was furious with the decision and accused BOXXER of wasting everyone's time. He wrote on Twitter: 'Heard from the BBBofC that Boxxer has pulled @BigFrazeBoxer out of the @Fabio_Wardley purse bid today. What a complete joke and a waste of our time. Robbing the fighters of opportunity and the fans of a brilliant fight. Shambles.'
