22:46:42
HAPPY EASTER

And that concludes a spectacular night of boxing at the o2 Arena. If there is a better fight than Wardley-Clarke this year I cannot wait to see it. Goodnight, God bless.

22:43:15
IT’S A DRAW!

Absolutely insane fight, and nobody won. That’s boxing for you.

114-113 – Wardley
115-112 – Clarke
113-113 – DRAW

22:39:58
WE GO TO THE SCORECARDS… AGAIN

After 12 breathless rounds, these two can’t be stopped. What an unbelievable fight. Now we await the winner…

22:35:45
ANOTHER CRAZY ROUND

More back-and-forth. Wardley’s face is ever-worsening and now he has serious swelling under the right eye to add to the cut on his nose. How he is still standing is anyone’s guess. Not only standing, but firing back with power. Here comes the final round.

22:29:40
DOCTOR HAPPY!

Steve Gray calls the doctor in to check Wardley’s bloody nose but he’s happy! On they go, and here comes Wardley piling on the pressure. This is an outrageous fight.

22:26:56
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS

Wardley is literally spitting blood out at every opportunity with his nose in a real state. This is a colossal opportunity for Frazer Clarke to win the British heavyweight title.

22:22:57
BLEEDING HECK

Wardley’s face is an absolute mess, with blood pouring from a deep wound on the bridge of his nose. They go to work on it in the corner but that will be like a beacon for Clarke, who had been slipping behind. There are four rounds left and this could go either way.

22:19:00
POINT OFF FOR CLARKE

Referee Steve Gray deducts a point from Frazer Clarke for a low blow which looked like it hurt Wardley, who takes his time to recover. We are seven down and Clarke has been knocked down and had a point off. How crucial could that be?

22:14:31
SIX DOWN

Sixth round is nearly all Wardley as he looks to capitalise on his breakthrough in the fifth. What a turnaround for the British champion after those early moments of consternation. Can he find a stoppage now or will Clarke come again?

22:10:35
CLARKE DOWN!

From out of nowhere, Fabio Wardley explodes into action, unloading on the back peddling Clarke with whatever he can throw. It’s a huge right hand which drops him but he is up by eight. The bell to end the fifth ended the onslaught.

22:06:41
MORE DRAMA

This is just quality action. Again Clarke see Wardley coming and times a right hand to perfection. But despite taking punishment, champion Wardley refuses to slow down and comes back with another right hand counter. This is a thriller.

22:02:33
BAD BLOOD

Wardley’s face is a bloody mess as the bell sounds to end the third. He often gets cut on the bridge of his nose and it appears to have happened again. Clarke cannot seem to miss with the right hand – him and his team will surely be very pleased with their start here.

21:58:42
WHAT A ROUND

Clarke boxing beautifully here, picking off Wardley with uppercuts and straight right hands. But, as soon as Wardley felt hurt he came back swinging, looking to finish the fight here and now. This is superb stuff.

21:54:33
WE’RE OFF

An absorbing first round comes to and end with Clarke landing the most meaningful shots – a double jab cross right on the button. Wardley, too, had his moments, slipping outside a jab and firing back with a right hand in particular. This is already shaping up into a classic.

21:38:23
MAIN EVENT TIME

Sweet Caroline is playing, Big Mo is in the ring, everyone is losing the plot. It’s main event time.

21:29:36
ADAM AZIM V HARLEM EUBANK IS ON

Before they wheel out the main event fighters, Boxxer have got both Adam Azim and Harlem Eubank in the ring with a fight between the two British light-welterweights pending.

21:25:32
KONGO UD!!

All three in favour of your winner CHRIS KONGO!
96-94
96-93
98-92

21:23:05
BACK TO THOSE PESKY SCORECARDS

Both teams celebrate like they’ve won the World Cup as the final bell tolls at the end of the 10th but one of these men is about to be gutted… here comes the decision.

21:19:46
INTO THE LAST WE GO

The crowd erupts as the 10th and final round begins. Can either of these two find a stoppage?

21:13:17
POINT OFF FOR MARKU

Marku is deducted a point for persistent punches to the back of the head, much to the dismay of his legion of noisy followers inside the arena. Just how important will that prove?

21:09:12
KING KONG

Kongo just starting to hold his feet a little bit more as he attempts to make a dent in Marku, who just refuses to stop marauding forward. There are three to go and this is beautifully poised.

21:05:18
SIX DOWN

Six down, four to go in this grudge match. Very even so far and it’s all to play for down the stretch.

20:56:27
FOUR DOWN

This has developed into the sort of fight that many were expecting; Marku marches forward attempting to put on the pressure while Kongo uses his height and reach advantages in a bid to outbox the smaller man on the back foot. This is a great combination of styles.

20:52:07
KONGO CUT

Marku just starts to close the gap and get a little closer to Kongo. As such, the Londoner sustains a nasty looking cut around his right eye. We are three down here.

20:43:36
WIFI DOWN

I reckon the Albanian fans have whipped up such an atmosphere here that the wifi went down. Either way, I’m back in business for now. We are one round down and Marku and Kongo have got straight down to business here. The place is rocking.

20:36:12
WHO’S NEXT?

I’ll tell you. It’s Florian Marku v Chris Kongo. The latter is already in the ring as Marku is walked into the ring by an Albanian rapper. This should be fun.

20:32:57
JOB DONE FOR WHITTAKER


PIC LAWRENCE LUSTIG/BOXXER

20:25:42
WHITTAKER DECISION

As expected, referee Sean McAvoy declares Ben Whittaker a 78-73 winner. The Surgeon is now 7-0 with 5 KOs. Willings is now 7-2 (2).

20:23:52
BACK TO THE SCORECARDS

After getting dropped in round one, Leon Willings regroups and makes it all the way through eight rounds, earning a lot of fans and respect along the way. He did not win this fight but it could turn out to be a big night in his career.

Now for the scores…

20:19:52
ONE LEFT

Willings puts so much into a right hand, that misses, that he spins round and ends up on the canvas again. Both men had their moments in the seventh… now for the eighth and final round.

20:16:32
HERE COMES WHITTAKER

Whittaker is going in search of the stoppage and gets Willings up against the ropes, where he has more success with the straight right hand and left hook to the body. Willings has shipped a lot of them but has never really looked badly hurt.

20:11:49
BACK COMES WILLINGS

Despite shipping lots of heavy shots, Willings is still in there swinging and in round five he had his most success of the fight, landing with left hooks off the ropes and sharp uppercuts. Whittaker is taking them well, however. Three left.

20:03:49
THREE DOWN

Willings spent far too long on the ropes in round three soaking up punishment. Whittaker has really found a groove now, which allowed him to dip into his compendium of tricks. First he stops boxing to tell Willings’ loud coach to keep the noise down, he then starts dancing on the ropes much to the crowd’s delight.

19:59:51
BUBBLING NICELY

Willings starts the second round by landing a crisp one-two, left hook combination which draws cheers from the crowd. It only serves to fire Whittaker up further and back he comes with two more big right hands. Some chin shown from the 23-year-old. This one is heating up nicely – six to go.

19:54:38
FAST START

Whittaker in no mood to hang around. He is straight into his groove and there is real venom on his shots from the off. Drops Willings midway through the opening round with a right hand but the Widnes man gets up. Whittaker is straight back on him with more big right hands but Willings makes it to the bell. This one won’t last much longer.

19:45:35
WHITTAKER V WILLINGS UP NEXT

We are onto fight four of six with Leon Willings now in the ring and Ben Whittaker set to ringwalk now. This one is scheduled for eight.

19:39:58
CHAOS AT RINGSIDE

As Riley conducts his post-fight interviews, he gets into a heated exchange with Isaac Chamberlain, the current British champion. Then, to add fuel to the fire, Chamberlain’s mandatory challenger Chev Clarke turns up. The interview has to be terminated as things appear to get physical.

19:30:29
WE GO TO THE SCORECARDS – RILEY UD

Alexander 98-92
Foster, Gray: 99-91

As suspected, Riley wins big on all three scorecards. Very polished performance there but a disappointing night for Lawal who is now 0-2 since October.

19:26:29
FINAL ROUND

Another round in the bank for Riley, who dances in and out of distance throughout with Lawal just not quick enough to get anything off. A frustrating evening for the former British champion.

19:21:48
TWO LEFT

Riley is boxing well, staying well out of trouble and picking Lawal off every time he chooses to hold his feet. He must be out of sight on the cards by now with Lawal needing an unlikely and dramatic knockout to claim a victory from this point.

19:14:22
SAME STORY

Riley is just too slippery for Lawal to pin down properly. In fact, in the sixth it is Riley who manages to get his opponent in the corner before landing to head and body. Here comes round seven.

19:10:22
HALFWAY HOME

Things heating up a little bit in the fifth with Lawal landing a hard left hook while Riley responds with a lovely right hand counter. It is still only singles though and neither man are really hurt or in any trouble.

19:06:24
INTO FIVE

Four down, and not much going on here. The pair are not exchanging much as of yet. This is not quite the fight many of us were hoping for. Now we’re into the fifth.

18:58:19
RILEY SUCCESS

Not much to report here with the fight settling into a pattern of Lawal taking centre ring and stalking while Riley circles around the outside of the ring. However, it is Riley who lands with the more meaningful shots of round two, with two perfectly timed right hands finding a home.

18:54:22
WE’RE OFF

Very uneventful first round with both men just having a look and giving nothing away. Arena is pretty full but it’s very quiet in here with little action in the ring.

18:48:01
HERE COME LAWAL AND RILEY

Next up is the intriguing 10-round cruiserweight clash between undefeated Viddal Riley and Mikael Lawal, in his first fight since he lost his British title to Isaac Chamberlain in October. Both men are in the ring.

18:36:22
CHELLI v SIMPSON NEXT

Promoter Ben Shalom confirms that Simpson will now face British champion Zak Chelli, who was watching from ringside, next.

“There are not many fighters in the UK with that knockout power,” Shalom says.

“We’ve promised him a trip to Barnsley. It’s a great British title fight. May the best man win.”

18:29:51
IT’S ALL OVER

A chilling right hand finally puts Mbabe on his back and there is simply no coming back from that as referee Mark Bates counts him out. A very impressive performance for Simpson and a highlight reel finish to boot. Job done. Official time of the stoppage is 1:10 of R4.

18:27:48
RAPID FIRE

Early in the third, Simpson rocks Mbabe to his boots with a right hand that sends him stumbling but not down. The Barnsley man follows it up with yet more rapid-fire combination punching but his Tanzanian opponent is made of stern stuff and is refusing to go over.

18:23:38
MORE OF THE SAME

More one-way traffic in round two with Simpson landing flashy three and even four-punch combinations which Mbabe is swallowing. Simpson not sitting down between rounds, he’s up for this. Round three…

18:19:34
THE SIMPSON

Backed by a noisy pocket of travelling Barnsley fans, Callum Simpson makes a good start here and starts to turn up the heat on Mbabe towards the end of the first. This is scheduled for 10 but, on that evidence, we might not get there.

18:12:22
RECAP

For anyone only just joining us, you’ve missed Alan Babic stopping Steve Robinson on his feet in the sixth. It was a fight that involved a lot of this:

18:10:51
WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS

Here comes Dulla Mbabe, for the first fight of the main televised card. Remember, if you haven’t already, to download the Boxing News app and get involved in the prediction league!

17:35:49
SIMPSON UP NEXT

Following Alan Babic’s post-fight interview, which involved Brighton heavyweight Tommy Welch appearing and asking to fight the Savage next, we now await the arrival of Barnsley super-middleweight Callum Simpson, who takes on Tanzania’s Dulla Mbabe over 10 rounds next.

17:26:45
IT’S OVER IN THE SIXTH

Referee Sean McAvoy was thinking the same as me. Robinson does not go over but when Babic continues to land with clean, unanswered shots, he decides to step in. A strange stoppage but certainly in Robinson’s best interests. Official time of the stoppage is: 54 seconds of R6.

17:25:11
SOME CHIN

Babic gets through with four or five heavy shots right on the button but Robinson is still standing. This is becoming quite hard to watch but Robinson has still not gone over.

17:20:31
FOUR DOWN

Babic looks to have hurt Robinson with a series of right hands which landed cleanly. But the Newcastle man does not budge and responds with a big right hand of his own. Into five we go.

17:15:14
AND WE ARE LIVE

Welcome along to tonight’s ringside live blog from the o2 Arena where Fabio Wardley defends his British heavyweight title against Frazer Clarke later on tonight.

I am Declan Taylor and, after a few wifi problems here in press row, I will now be keeping you up to date with proceedings here.

First in the ring on this tight, six-fight card is Alan Babic against Steve Robinson at heavyweight. We are now three rounds down in this slugfest.

British Heavyweight Champion, Fabio Wardley takes on Olympic Bronze Medalist, Frazer Clarke for the British, Commonwealth, WBA Continental and WBO European heavyweight titles at the O2 Arena, London. The main card is live on Sky Sports from 6pm in the UK. US fans can catch all the action from 1pm ET and 11am PT on Peacock.

Undercard action begins on the Sky Sports YouTube channel from 5pm UK, noon ET, and 10am PT.


Wardley vs Clarke Weights and Running Order

12 X 3mins – BRITISH, COMMONWEALTH, WBA CONTINENTAL & WBO EUROPEAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

FABIO WARDLEY – 243lbs vs FRAZER CLARKE – 266lbs

10 X 3mins – IBO INTERCONTINENTAL WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

FLORIAN MARKU – 146lbs vs CHRIS KONGO – 146lbs

10 X 3mins – ENGLISH CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

VIDDAL RILEY – 198lbs vs MIKAEL LAWAL – 198lbs

8 X 3mins – LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

BEN WHITTAKER – 177lbs vs LEON WILLINGS – 177lbs

10 X 3mins – SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT

CALLUM SIMPSON – 167lbs vs DULLA MBABE – 169lbs

10 X 3mins – HEAVYWEIGHT

ALEN BABIC – 217lbs vs STEVE ROBINSON – 239lbs