Frazer Clarke says an agreement has been reached for a much-anticipated rematch with Fabio Wardley after the two British heavyweight rivals were held to a draw in their epic first meeting earlier this year.

Wardley was defending his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles following the thrilling draw at the O2 Arena in March, which saw Clarke knocked down in the fifth round but recovered impressively to inflict a nasty gash on his rival’s nose in a brutal, relentless 12-round battle.

The fight immediately became the fight of the year, attracting a peak audience of 746,000 and becoming the fifth most watched boxing event on Sky Sports in the last ten years.

Both Wardley and Clarke have since enjoyed a well-deserved break to recover physically, with the latter announcing that he has now agreed to a second fight, with the date and venue to be confirmed shortly.

“It’s agreed and it’s happening. I’m always asked on the street when the rematch is going to happen. I can’t give that information yet, but we’re back and you’ll hear the news very soon,” Clarke said. Sky Sports.

“I hope it goes like clockwork but this is heavyweight boxing and I am, my career always has ups and downs, it’s been crazy from the start. We can hope everything goes smoothly but it’s a heavyweight title fight and there’s always drama.”

The rivalry is a fascinating clash of backgrounds: Clarke worked his way through the ranks of boxing as captain of the British Olympic team, while Wardley began his boxing career in the office world.

A war of words erupted last year when Wardley accused Clarke of avoiding a potential fight between the two after the Tokyo bronze medallist withdrew his original bid for the purse, but Clarke reiterated that the decision was out of his hands.

With March’s result, Clarke improved his professional record to 8-0-1, while Wardley also maintained his undefeated status at 17-0-1.

“I’m going into this with a lot of confidence. I think I did a good job the first time. There’s still room for improvement, but I have more experience and believe in myself a lot more.

“I’m going in there to do one thing, and that’s to knock Fabio Wardley out. A win wouldn’t be enough for me. I want to challenge him, but it will be a tough task, just like the first one. May the best man win, but I trust in myself.

“I have more respect for Fabio after that first fight, so I don’t want to say anything about him. I think you see two competitors who just want to get the best out of each other and get their hands raised. The message to the fans is to tune in and enjoy it when it happens.”

Clarke: Neither of them will give in under pressure

Andy Clarke from Sky Sports Boxing…

“It was 12 exciting rounds and the fight was back and forth, and that’s what you always want in a good fight. Neither had lasted 12 rounds, let alone 12 rounds like that, but both showed they could go deep. If they hadn’t had that bite, one of them would have crumbled.

“It’s really going to come down to who can make those tactical adjustments because they’ve really looked at each other well now and they both know the other isn’t going to buckle under pressure, that’s not going to happen. It’s about who can make those little adjustments to exploit what they see as weaknesses.”

Watch Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium live on Sky Sports Box Office on September 21st.