Fabio Wardley produces stunning 10th-round knockout to beat Justis Huni at Ipswich Town’s Portman Road

Fabio Wardley came through adversity to knockout Justis Huni in the 10th round in front of a home crowd at Ipswich Town’s Portman Road.

The previously unbeaten Aussie, who stepped in as a late replacement for Jarrell Miller, looked a certain victor having won almost every single round prior to the stoppage on a rainy evening in Suffolk.

But then, with Wardley staring down the barrel of a defeat, he produced a big right hand that sent Huni crashing to the canvas. And with the Brisbane-born puncher unable to beat the count, it sparked scenes of big celebrations in front of a raucous 20,000-strong crowd.

Speaking immediately after having his hand held aloft in the ring and being named WBA interim heavyweight champion, Wardley told DAZN: “I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone in this building tonight. I've been on this weird and wonderful journey in boxing and I wouldn't be here without you. This isn't just for me, it's for all of you.

“I don't profess to being a (Oleksandr) Usyk or Justis Huni who has all the skills, but I know how to win fights and that's one thing I knew I had to do tonight.

“Justis Huni is a great operator. We'd drilled everything over and over again. I should've performed better in some of those rounds.

“He's a great boxer, some great skills and he showed me everything he had tonight. I didn't expect to bank rounds like that with Justis, but I screwed my head back on and got the job done. I hurt him a bit in the first round and maybe I had too much confidence early on.”

Meanwhile, the defeated Huni added to the broadcaster: “That's my curse. I even said before this fight it only takes one second to switch off, it happened tonight. I'm grateful to Fabio and his team and to Ipswich to be able to perform in front of you. Get behind him, he's going to do great things.

"He's just an awesome fighter. He never gave up and he got the win, he deserves it. Thank you Ipswich for the opportunity to perform here, I'm grateful.”

The big question after the fight was what is next for Wardley? When it was put to promoter Frank Warren that the 30-year-old could be in line to face the winner of next month’s match up between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois, he responded: “That fight will settle the heavyweight division. Let's let the dust settle after that.

“The first mandatory is the WBO, then it's down the line, but he’s (Wardley) there. He did that through sheer grit, sheer heart.”