Another boxing presser another brawl. Today in London, at the first of what will be a few press conferences to hype the October clash between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou, two of the under-card guys got into it. Fabio Wardley and fellow unbeaten David Adeleye, who will fight on the Saudi Arabia card – this fight for many a welcome addition, the main event seen by plenty of hardcore fans as a cash-grab of an easy fight for Fury – got into at on the red carpet in the nation’s capital.
After the pair had briefly spoken with the media, things got nasty. Wardley, who said the British title he currently holds may or may not be on the line on October 28, went face-to-face with Adeleye and things quickly got wild.
Londoner Adeleye, 12-0(11) shoved Ipswich’s Wardley, 16-0(15) and Wardley roared right back. But Wardley fell, or clattered, into some TV equipment. Wardley was left with a cut below his left eye and a smaller cut under his chin. For once, it wasn’t Tyson Fury causing the mayhem (things could change, however, as the main event presser is still ongoing at time of writing).
But the nastiness and the silliness aside, it could be that a good many fight fans, UK fans in particular, decide to fork out the cash to watch the October 28 show in large part because of this fight. Two young, peaking heavyweights who can both punch and who clearly have some genuine bad blood going on. The P-P-V price for Fury-Ngannou has not yet been confirmed (again, at time of writing) but it’s expected to be around £25.00. One could argue that the Wardley-Adeleye fight is worth something like a tenner!
Wardley, who we hope will not be too bothered or disrupted by the two cuts he suffered today, is sure he wins this one, and by KO. Adeleye, who quite literally scored first blood today, is also certain he wins and he goes home early.
You could say this one is a 50-50 showdown. Let’s just hope both men behave themselves between now and fight night.
