Aussie heavyweight Justis Huni KO’d in ‘heartbreaking’ boxing loss

Australian heavyweight boxing star Justis Huni’s camp is lodging a shock protest after he suffered a heartbreaking knockout loss.

Australian heavyweight boxer Justis Huni has suffered the first loss of his professional career, getting knocked out when he was on track for victory on Sunday morning.

Fighting Fabio Wardley in Ipswich in the UK, Huni was in control of the fight and ahead on the scorecards — on track for a 12th career win.

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But as the intensity lifted in the 10th round of the 12-round bout, Wardley landed a monster punch on Huni, sending the Australian falling backwards and down onto the canvas.

It was a perfectly timed right hand that caught Huni flush on the chin.

“That is unbelievable,” the commentator exclaimed.

“Fabio Wardley, losing virtually every single round — oh my word.”

Watch the Justis Huni KO in the video above

Justis Huni suffered a brutal knockout loss. Photo: DAZN.

The punch seriously hurt Huni and the referee stopped the fight after a somewhat brisk standing count as Huni slowly got to his feet.

Main Event commentator Ben Damon said on X: “Heartbreak for Huni! Australia’s Justis Huni was in complete control against Fabio Wardley when this happened.”

OMG!!!!!! WARDLEY ERASES HUNI WITH ONE MASSIVE RIGHT HAND IN THE 10TH ROUND AND IT IS OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #boxing#WardleyHuni

— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) June 7, 2025

Fox Sports reports Huni’s camp is set to protest the result, convinced referee John Latham rushed and didn’t give Huni a proper 10 count in a venue filled with 20,000 UK fans.

Huni’s furious manager told Fox Sports he has spoken with promoter Eddie Hearn about lodging an immediate protest with the WBA, saying “you haven’t heard the last of this”.

The knockout blow secured the interim WBA heavyweight belt for Wardley and took the Brit’s record to 19-0-1.

But it was a heartbreaking loss for Huni, who now has a 12-1 record and will need to bounce back to keep his dream alive of being one the best heavyweight fighters in the world.

Rubbing salt into the wound, Huni was ahead 89-82 89-82 88-83 on the judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage.

Justis Huni struggled to his feet but the referee stopped the fight. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Justis Huni (right) was well ahead on the scorecards. (Steven Paston/PA via AP)

“That’s my curse,” Huni said after the loss. “I even said, it only takes one split second to switch off and it happened tonight.

“Credit to Fabio and his team. He’s a real champion.

“He’s just an awesome fighter. He never gave up and he got the win. He deserved it.”

“Justis Huni’s a great operator,” Wardley said. “I should’ve performed better in some of those rounds. Sometimes that’s the way it goes. We pulled one out of the bag.

“He’s a great boxer. Great skills and he showed me everything he has tonight. He pulled out all sorts of tricks. I didn’t expect to bank rounds like that with Justis.”

Huni’s loss comes hours before fellow Aussie Jai Opetaia (27-0) defends his cruiserweight world title on the Gold Coast against undefeated Italian Claudio Squeo.