British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley admits an immediate rematch with Frazer Clarke was his only realistic option after their bloody split draw in March.
The pair combined to serve up a Fight of the Year contender at the o2 Arena in London but they could not be split by the judges on the night.
Clarke was dropped in the fifth round and then had a point deducted in the seventh but did enough in the eyes of Howard Foster to win 115-112 on the night, which meant that when Mark Bates had it 113-113 there would be no winner, with Michael Alexander scoring it 114-113 in Wardley’s favour.
The pair will now meet for their return seven months later, this time in Riyadh, and Wardley says he did not have any intention of boxing anyone else until he could close the chapter on Clarke.
The Ipswich man said: “I’m in a fortunate position. I have four belts at the moment and I’m ranked in the top 10 with multiple sanctioning bodies so I have options.
“But there was some unfinished business there, we had things to settle and I’m not the sort of person to leave things to lie. I want it finished off, I want it done, I want the chapter ticked off to move forward.
“While we played around with a few other options, being realistic, the only real thing was to finish off Frazer.”
On their first fight, Wardley said: “I don’t think it was a draw at all.
“I think I pressed the action, I had him going in the fight numerous times, I had him down, he had a point deducted. I think there are many points there that prove I won the fight but it’s set up for a bigger rematch so there’s not much to complain about. I get to go back to Riyadh on a massive card and settle the score properly.
“Riyadh is a good place for me, I’ve got good memories and I’ve had good times there. We know it was a fantastic win for me the last time I was there so I’m looking to put on a clean, clinical knockout performance again this time around.”