The British heavyweight title showdown between Fabio Wardley and David Adeleye takes place in Riyadh on October 28 on the undercard of the Battle of the Baddest event.
Tyson Fury goes up against MMA king Francis Ngannou, live on TNT Sports Box Office in the UK & Ireland.
In London, the chief support participants came together in front of the media ahead of departure for Saudi Arabia and below are a selection of key quotes from the top-table section of proceedings.
Frank Warren: “I think this is a fabulous fight and it is the first time I have met Fabio, other than speaking to him briefly on the telephone. This is what it is all about, undefeated heavyweights, two rising stars of boxing in a main support bout to a unique event, which will be broadcast all over the world. Whoever wins this fight is going to establish himself around the world, with lots of eyeballs watching. This is a huge opportunity and you can just feel the buzz about this and the event. This fight is going to be special. We had that unfortunate incident last time and hopefully that has been dealt with and is done. I hope we can put that behind us now and focus on the fight. Make no bones about it, this fight will be exciting.”
Wardley vs Adeleye
David Adeleye: “I learned nothing about him last time because I know what sort of man he is anyway, so it didn’t really show me much. He is not the same as me, he ain’t built from the same cloth. I kind of knew that already. We haven’t got to talk about the situation, but I match energy. I don’t go in there with no malice. I am always smiling and always good, I just match energy. I am pretty good at doing it. You walked towards me and got dealt with. It was jittery, I just pushed you back. When I am arguing with team members I am not going to let someone of 17 stone walk towards me. I don’t get nervous, I don’t know what it is, it is hard to explain, but nerves ain’t it. Someone like Fabio Wardley could never bring on those sort of nerve in me. What does he do for me to be nervous?”
“I am getting paid to beat him up, it is easy money. Eddie Hearn doesn’t put his money on you, what are you talking about?”
Fabio Wardley: “I don’t know if I particularly learned anything, nothing that I hadn’t seen already, in other situations and other circumstances, that he is a bit jittery. When the cameras are on, it is a big stage and a big event, people’s personality shows through. Nervous, jittery and on edge, twitchy – all things we had assessed already. It was nothing new, but funny to see up close, that is all. All I did was turn and look at you and you jittered. Do you push everyone who walks towards you and approaches you? So it is just me you are jittery around then? I’ve had people I’ve had issues with walk towards me and I’m not on edge or nervous, I’m cool. I walked to you to calm things down. We had met before and that is why I came over to say there was no need for this. Play your role, we are here to be professionals at the end of the day. I am used to having a mature interaction with someone where you can walk over. There was no need for that.”
“I don’t think it is easy money. I am getting paid to be whatever because Frank realises that you are not what they thought you were, you are not what he thought you was, so he has brought me over to do a job, get rid of you. I think Frank is betting his money on me.”
“I am a free guy, I can go wherever I want.”
Marquez and Zamarron
Two of Split-T Management’s young prospects were impressive in scoring knockouts over the weekend.
Saturday night in Rosenberg, Texas, Giovanni Marquez remained undefeated with a second-round stoppage over Donte Strayhorn in a scheduled six-round junior welterweight bout.
In round two, Marquez dropped Strayhorn with two right uppercuts. Seconds later, it was a vicious four punch combination that was punctuated by a left hook that put Strayhorn on the deck. Marquez ended things by landing seven unanswered punches that finished the fight at 2:47.
Marquez, 141.3 lbs of Houston, TX is 7-0 with five knockouts. Strayhorn, 140.2 lbs of Dallas, TX is 12-5-1.
Sunday in Milwaukee, junior lightweight Javier Zamarron stopped veteran Rodolfo Hernandez Montoya in the opening round of their six-round bout.
Zamarron was impressive in finishing Montoya off at 1:58 of the opening frame.
Zamarron was fighting in front of the home folks as the Sheboygan, Wisconsin native raised his mark to 6-0 with four knockouts. Montoya of Mexico City is 30-15-1.