Frazer Clarke accused those around Fabio Wardley of being “over-confident” ahead of Sunday’s British and Commonwealth heavyweight title fight.

The rivals finally fight at London’s O2 Arena, after the long-term pursuit of Wardley and his team to match him with Clarke had been resisted by Boxxer, who promote Clarke.

It is in the time since those first efforts were made – Wardley, a free agent, was then promoted by Matchroom – that those around Clarke have come to consider him to be ready, but at Friday’s final press conference the mutual respect that exists between the two heavyweights was challenged when one of Wardley’s handlers questioned Clarke’s abilities.

One Mike Ofo joined Wardley at the top table and dismissed the Olympic bronze medallist’s chances of victory in the biggest fight of both fighters’ careers, and the 32-year-old Clarke said: “They’re over-confident. They’re looking at me as an easy touch. Fabio knows this isn’t going to be easy. It’s not a walk in the park, and I 100 per cent know that this is going to be my most difficult fight by a huge margin. This is a guy that’s coming in there to win, but ultimately, the talking is done. 

“There’s no doubt [Wardley’s attempted to unnerve me]. He’s very annoying at times – he plays it very well. He’s very clever in that respect, and I have to take my hat off to him. We’ve both sold this fight very well; it’s going to be a massive clash. 

“But at this moment in time there’s nothing he can say or do that can get under my skin or bother me. I’m a professional and I’m fully focused on my job. I’ve had a lot of big days in my career along the way and this is just another one of them.”

Wardley, 29, is the narrow favourite, and similarly to when Clarke insisted “the champ first” – Wardley is the British and Commonwealth champion – when they were asked if they wanted to add any final words, Wardley said of his attempts to get under Clarke’s skin: “I hope he hasn’t taken it too personally. It’s something I do with everyone. 

“My own team – I wind them up all the same. It’s all fun and games – it’s not for anyone else. It’s for me. I like to have a bit of fun with it; enjoy these moments; enjoy this time; enjoy being here and soaking up the event. I enjoy having a poke and prod at anyone that’s around.

“My hometown is great for getting behind one of their own. They love and support you; they wanna see you do well. Even from the early days – even before I was on big stages like this and headlining The O2; even when I was doing small-hall shows and fighting where there was a couple of hundred people and stuff, the town was always behind me; always supported me. 

“It’s fantastic that I’m able to bring Ipswich, put it on the map and bring it to a stage – it almost feels a bit like a give-back for the early years of support. The O2 Arena on Sunday night is gonna be blue and white.”

Clarke encountered Wardley’s support in Ipswich when he attended a fixture at local football team Ipswich Town’s Portman Road stadium in an attempt to promote Sunday evening’s fixture and in doing so appeared to anger some of Wardley’s supporters. 

“It’s just people from Ipswich threatening to give me a ‘good booting’,” Clarke said. “Some crazy guy last night – I don’t even know who he was. He was bizarre and having a rant down the camera at me. But yeah, I won’t be going there anytime soon, let’s put it that way. 

“As for the Norwich [City, Ipswich Town’s rivals] fans, they’re my new army of followers. What people need to understand is that I played the pantomime villain a little bit. I’ve seen it in boxing from the top to the bottom; we’re trying to sell a fight.”