The British and Commonwealth champion faces a rematch against Frazer Clarke next week after a thrilling draw in their original March bout and thinks that a convincing knockout win will put him amongst the top contenders in the division.

Wardley told Sky Sports: "I'm ranked in the top 10 with three or four of the governing bodies, in line for potential world title eliminators, things like that.

"You never know how the heavyweight division is going to go. You never know who's going to win, you never know who's going to lose. You never know how the landscape is going to pan out. So one fight at a time. We tick off Frazier, we have a look.

"At the end of the year, when you see (Tyson) Fury – (Oleksandr) Usyk and them belts fragment and all of that happens, then I'll set myself in a nice pretty position come January and February, have a look and see where we end up."

Wardley is convinced he has what it takes to join the heavyweight elite and says that victory over Clarke in Saudi Arabia will help to do so.

He said: "One thousand per cent I'm in the mix. I'm one fight away from being in that top echelon position. Clean out Frazer and then I'm in that mix, I'm the next one in question.

"The next coming up, that next set of people, I can't think of anyone, aside from me really.

"Undefeated, on the way up, good rankings, all of that, is me. I'm the next one to come through. My proving test is coming up."