Suffolk heavyweight boxing star Fabio Wardley came face-to-face with his opponent for this weekend’s Portman Road fight night in Ipswich town centre this lunchtime.
The unbeaten Ipswich sensation (18-0-1, 17KO), went nose to nose with Australian heavyweight champion Justis Huni (12-0, 7KO) outside the Town Hall as part of the big fight build-up.
Wardley is a huge Town fan, and wears the club’s badge and colours into the ring on his gloves and fight shorts.
READ MORE: ‘A massive event’ – Wardley staying focused in the biggest week of his life
And the club are now flying his flag – literally – at Portman Road, with a Fabio Wardley flag visible over Town’s stadium.
The club shared an image on social media, with the words: ‘Flying the Wardley flag ahead of Saturday night 💙’
Speaking on Sunday, Wardley, 30, told us how much it means to him to wear the club badge.
He said: “It means the world. Even when the club and I came to that agreement and I was able to put that badge on my shorts, it felt to me like I was giving back in a way – putting my club on a global stage and taking them around the world with me, when I’m fighting around the country or overseas.
READ MORE: ‘A massive event’ – Wardley staying focused in the biggest week of his life
“People know, they associate the two things together now. Fabio Wardley is associated with Ipswich Town Football Club and we’re working hand in hand together.
“It’s been fantastic and a real privilege for me to be able to wear that out.”
Of the event itself, he added: “The idea that any of this was going to happen… don’t get me wrong, it was always a dream, and always something we’d talked about and that I wanted to pull off – but whether it was or not was a different question entirely!
“The stars have aligned, the chips have fallen in the right place and everything’s met up ideally.
“This is special for a number of reasons, but it’s also been a long time coming in a sense – and I’m just looking forward to getting in there on the night and getting stuck into the job.”
