Dillian Whyte is now guiding the career of heavyweight prospect Fabio Wardley

Dillian Whyte is now guiding the career of heavyweight prospect Fabio Wardley.

The unbeaten 23-year-old has linked up with Whyte, who is also a mentor for cruiserweight contender Richard Riakporhe.

Wardley holds an unbeaten four-fight record, with three knockouts, and hopes to kick-start his career by working with 'The Body Snatcher'.

"Dillian is really someone I respect in the game and trust his opinion, so after I had a few meetings with different managers, I just wanted to speak to him really, get his opinion," Wardley told Sky Sports.

"Signing with him wasn't originally the plan for me, or even him.

"He just suggested it, and I thought actually yeah that would be ideal to have someone like that, managing my career, who has already been through the thick of it, and knows how to navigate the world would be ideal."

The Suffolk fighter was called into Oleksandr Usyk's camp as a sparring partner ahead of the knockout win over Tony Bellew and gained valuable experience from sharing the ring with the undisputed cruiserweight king.

"I was out there for about three weeks, working with him and training with him, and obviously getting the sparring in as well. That was a great experience," said Wardley.

"The way he presses you and makes you think, it kind of puts you into overtime.

"You have to pay attention to so many things that he does, the way he moves his feet, where he's putting his hands. He's just positioning you all the time. You always have to stay on guard."

After a spell of inactivity, the 23-year-old is now determined to climb the rankings, with Whyte's help.

"Right now, my No 1 goal is to get active and get fighting," he said. "I've had a very slow year, only one fight that totalled one round - it's not the way I wanted it to go.

"I'm young, but I need to rack up those wins. Between now and the next 12 months or so, the main focus is to build up my record, and get those fights in.

"From there, we can start looking at some serious objectives of titles and calling some names out."

You can hear more from an interview with Fabio Wardley on this week's Ringside Toe 2 Toe podcast.