Well, it might not have been the fight of the night (as some, this writer included, had said it could well be), but the three round heavyweight slugfest Fabio Wardley and Nathan Gorman engaged in last night as they fought for the vacant British heavyweight title was plenty enjoyable while it lasted. In the end, the finish was somewhat disappointing, with Gorman’s corner throwing in the white towel, this after Gorman had been down three times but was still trying to fight back. But prior to the ending, round two was special.
Wardley, his face covered with blood due to a nasty nose injury, his nose said to have been “shattered,” blasted Gorman with a right hand to send him to the canvas for the first knockdown. Then, with Gorman taking his time to get up, the two big men slugged it out in furious fashion. For a while, too short a while unfortunately, it was edge of the seat stuff. Wardley dropped a rubbery-legged Gorman again before the wild session ended.
Then, his vision impaired due to the blood, Wardley scored a third and final knockdown, with the ending coming seconds later, with Gorman still on his feet but his corner having seen enough. Wardley, now 15-0(14) stopped Gorman, now 19-2(13) quicker than Daniel Dubois did the job, and it must be remembered how the 27 year old had only white collar fights before going pro. Wardley, who went pro in April of 2017, has made incredible progress and he is now looking for bigger fights.
It’s an amazing story and we all wonder how far Fabio Wardley really can go. Right now, though, Wardley holds the British title, a belt that at one time meant so much, with greats such as Tommy Farr, Len Harvey, Henry Cooper, Lennox Lewis and others becoming household names after winning the coveted title.
As for Gorman, he really gave it a go last night but in the end he fell short. The 26 year old faces a tough rebuild.