Frazer Clarke has insisted Fabio Wardley hit him the ‘hardest he’s ever been hit’ in his stunning KO defeat.

Clarke was left with a ‘dent’ in the side of his head, after being brutally stopped by a series of thumping right hands in their British heavyweight title clash in Riyadh.

Clarke was left with a nasty injury after being stopped by WardleyMark Robinson/Matchroom

It was later revealed that ‘Big Fraze’ had suffered a fractured jaw and as a result was taken immediately to hospital to receive treatment.

And in a fresh update, journalist Gareth A Davies has revealed that Clarke had a surgical procedure to fix the damage but is returning home to the UK.

He posted on social media: “Just chatted to @BigFrazeBoxer at airport in Riyadh 5 mins ago.

“His wife is with him. He is feeling ok. Jaw is wired. Showed me pictures of the breaks – three I think.

“We are on same flight to London overnight. Very pleased to know that FC is ok.

“He said to say to @FabioWardley, Well done mate, Ive been in boxing a very long time and no one has ever hit that hard’.

“‘I’m proud of the 13 rounds we’ve had together’.”

It was a real show of class from Clarke who had returned to his feet after the damaging stoppage and embraced Wardley after their quickfire meeting.

The pair had left nothing in the ring during their first encounter, where they couldn’t be separated in a draw after a brutal war left both heavyweights with facial injuries,

But unfortunately for the former Olympian Clarke, it left more lasting damage and he will now face a challenging rebuild and recovery period.

Clarke now faces a tough rebuild after the devastating KOMark Robinson/Matchroom

Wardley was extremely respectful to his rival and sent him prayers and best wishes after the fight.

But nonetheless he insisted he has the power to cause problems for anybody in the future.

“I know that once I hurt someone, I can get rid of them,” he said after the fight.

“I had a few issues for the first fight but I got rid of them, had a gameplan and executed it.

“I learned enough from the first fight to know I had enough to beat him properly. 

“I can’t help it, it’s my name; War by name War by nature.

“I want belts and titles next, these domestic ones are great but I want the ones that have ‘world’ written on them.”

Wardley is now looking towards world honours, where he hopes to put himself in the mix in the coming years.

The punch stats revealed exactly how long the onslaught was, with Wardley landing nine power punches in the opening period, which closed the show.

The fight was fairly even but Wardley’s blows were just irresistible

Clarke incredibly landed six of his own in what was becoming a fairly even round, before he was left severely concussed in the corner.

There have been some brutal injuries in the sport over the years, but Clarke’s was a serious worry for the boxing world.

Daniel Dubois previously suffered a fractured orbital against Joe Joyce in 2020, but has gone on to win the world heavyweight title in stunning fashion.

Super-middleweight Billy Joe Saunders fractured his orbital in defeat to Canelo Alvarez, and has yet to return but is eyeing a full comeback.

It is unclear what lies in store next for Clarke, but many will cast doubt on if he can return to the ring as the same fighter.

The British Boxing Board of Control’s chief chief medical officer, Neil Scott spoke about the rarity of the injury.

He said: “I’m a maxillofacial surgeon in the NHS and, typically, those kind of injuries are caused by bricks.

“With the size of the glove it’s not something we see in boxing.

“It must be a tremendous amount of power to do that.”