Footage sees Simon Jordan and Jim White reaction to Fabio Wardley horror cut after David Adeleye brawl

Fabio Wardley capped a brilliant performance against David Adeleye by knocking out his rival in Saudi Arabia.

However, the bout on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou almost never came to be, as the fight was put in jeopardy after Wardley and Adeleye got into a heated exchange at the pre-fight press conference.

It sparked a mass brawl and left the Ipswich-based heavyweight with some nasty cuts of which he has photos stored on his phone.

Returning to the UK, he joined White & Jordan on talkSPORT and spoke about the incident that almost ruined his brilliant night.

“At the time it was a very disappointing thing to happen because that was the kick off to a massive event, it was at the press conference, we were supposed to be announcing our fight.

“So, for himself and other people within his team to want to kick off at an event like that was quite stupid, is the most plain way of putting it.

“It resulted in a number of cuts to myself, one being quite severe, quite deep, all the way down to the bone.”

To highlight how ghastly the injuries were, Wardley showed Jim White and Simon Jordan the images on his phone, with host White opting to show those watching on YouTube how horrible they were.

He did, though, show co-host Jordan, whose reaction summed up the horror.

Asked by White whether the cuts put the fight in jeopardy, Wardley replied: “For a period of time it did, I had a cut down to the bone underneath my chin.

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“We were never the best of friends or got on the greatest, but for it to turn into something like that, I understand that boxing has its moments and scuffles and we’re all big strong men, we can go through those little pushes and pulls and little jibes thrown here and there, that’s fine.

“But, when it starts going to actual physical damage that leaves a permanent mark on me and puts the fight in jeopardy as well, then that’s when things take a more sinister path.”

Following Wardley’s career best win, stopping Adeleye in the seventh round of their clash, he has a number of options going forward.

As for who Wardley wants to take on next, he said: “Whoever is the easiest fight to make, the most obvious go to right now is the Frazer Clarke fight, I think it’s the one that makes the most sense.

“I’m almost in a funny teetering position where I’m kind of at world level and I could move into that position if I wanted to, but also there’s still opportunity for me to fight maybe once more at British and defend that belt again, tick off another good win and then move on.

“I think Frazer is probably the best opponent for that at this stage in time.”

Daniel Dubois, who recently lost controversially against Oleksandr Usyk in a world title fight, was then suggested as an opponent and Wardley responded: “Yeah, potentially, I’m not sure where he’s at in his career or what his plans are but he’s another British fighter where we’re mixing around similar levels to each other now, so it just depends.”