Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni betting tips: Can the stand-in upset the home favourite?

Fabio Wardley (18-0-1, 17 KOs) runs into adversity, exactly as the title of the event describes, which comes in the form of fellow unbeaten heavyweight, Justis Huni (12-0, 7 KOs).

The lifelong Ipswich fan gets the home advantage at the Portman Road stadium, but the Australian hasn’t flown 10,000 miles just to collect a paycheck. 

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He took Jarrell Miller’s place for a reason, after the American was forced to withdraw through injury. 

Huni said he was offered this biggest fight of his career at short notice and needed just a couple of days to talk with his team before excitedly accepting.

Both boxers are unbeaten and enjoying a meteoric rise through the ranks, but which one will be the future of the heavyweight division? Let’s find out.

Tale of the tape: Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni

Fabio Wardley: The ‘Tractor Boy’ gets his dream stadium fight at his beloved Portman Road

Fabio Wardley famously bypassed an amateur career to turn pro after just four white collar bouts. 

The former recruitment consultant didn’t start boxing until he was 22-years-old, so to make his pro debut at 23 and become English heavyweight champion at 26 is quite incredible.

He has since collected British, Commonwealth, and WBA and WBO regional belts to reach WBA #1.

His biggest career test came against Olympian Frazer Clarke in 2024. It was a high-octane fight that swung back and forth, Wardley starting brightly, hurting Clarke with big overhand rights and wild, swinging shots. 

His aggression and relentlessness paid off in the fifth round when he chased Clarke around the ring to eventually knock him down. 

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Cut on his nose and bleeding heavily, Wardley absorbed big, bruising blows and dealt with lots of pressure to get through to the final bell, giving as good as he got. 

He came through cuts, blood, fatigue, exhaustion, pain and adversity to reach a stalemate in a fight of the year contender.

The rematch was an even more astonishing spectacle, when Wardley demolished his toughest ever opponent within one round. 

Despite Big Fraze having 30lbs on him, Wardley stunned Clarke with an overhand right in two minutes of the fight starting. 

Sensing the end, he took a further 20 seconds to finish the Team GB star off, noticeably dislocating Clarke’s jaw for all to see.

Despite his lack of experience and schooling, Wardley has knocked out the likes of Simon Vallily, Nick Webb, Nathan Gorman, David Adeleye, and Frazer Clarke – all fighters with far more knowledge and practice than him. 

And his next test is yet another qualified opponent with an extensive background behind him – just how he likes them!

Justis Huni: The Aussie comes from Down Under to upset the odds 

After an astounding amateur career that saw him win a World Championships bronze, Justis Huni went straight into a title fight on his pro debut and became an Australian heavyweight champion in his first fight.

Within his first five fights, he had won the national title and defended it three times. He then set about collecting regional belts with the IBF, WBO and WBA.

He won the WBO Global belt against former two-weight world champion Kevin Lerena in just his ninth fight in March 2024, but not without trouble though. 

In the 10th and final round, Huni just lingered slightly too long after throwing a straight right, which allowed Lerena to land a huge left hook on the Aussie’s temple, which wobbled him badly. 

The 26-year-old did remarkably well to get through the remaining minute-and-a-half on jellified legs, showing his heart and ability to fight in the trenches.

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The Aussie star has had a third less fights in the professional ranks than Wardley, yet has completed 10 more rounds. 

This is partly due to starting off in 10-round championship contests instead of the traditional four and six-round learning fights, like Wardley took. 

Also, because ‘JPH’ isn’t as explosive as Wardley and saw six contests in a row reach the 10th rounds between 2021-2024.  

He has just one first-round knockout compared to Wardley’s six, so he takes a little longer to break his opponents down to get them out of there, so this could potentially be a match between skill vs strength.

Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni: The key factors

The home fighter is very aggressive and will likely go on the front foot. It could be quite evident early on that one of these fighters is more experienced than the other.

Huni is incredibly well balanced and disciplined, whereas Wardley is a bit more free and loose, and doesn’t keep his shape at all times.

Huni is compact and tight and his hooks to the body are powerful and commanding. 

His extensive schooling shows in his good feet and fast and powerful hands, plus he puts his punches together well, and his technique is near-on perfect, rarely ever losing his shape, stance or balance.

Wardley is a little wilder, leaping into his shots with rapidity and rashness. But those wild, swinging shots coming in from around the sides could find that same sweet spot. 

Something that Kevin Lerena located, and potentially upset Huni’s equilibrium again.

Wardley appears to be the more effective finisher between these two, so if either one gets hurt at any point, then it’s Wardley who has the bigger chance to finish the fight off.

Huni could very likely outbox the inexperienced Wardley, but 36 minutes in a heavyweight fight where one punch could change it all is a long time to get through. 

At some point, Wardley is going to land one of his haymakers and the course of the fight could be turned on its head.

Both boxers are capable of hurting each other, but Wardley has shown a greater power, backed up by 17 KOs from 19 fights, and multiple knockdowns inflicted. 

Huni’s punches are more clubbing, whereas Wardley’s can sweep opponents off their feet in a single shot. 

It’s that clear and present danger that could be the key factor in this fight.

FIRST’s top tip for Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni 

There’s a school of thought that we will see Huni outbox Wardley early in the fight before a big shot gets through from the Brit to score a KO. 

Pick: Wardley to win by KO is currently - 4/5 (Betway)

Extra tips 

Wardley has an average of knocking his opponents out within three rounds, so to win in rounds 1-3 is currently 9/1 at Ladbrokes.

Pick: Wardley to win in rounds 1-3 - 9/1 (Ladbrokes) 

Odds correct at the time of writing.