The right hand which fractured Frazer Clarke’s cheekbone and dislocated his jaw, administered inside a round by Fabio Wardley, might have found its target on Saturday night but the real pain did not truly set in until Tuesday morning.

Clarke and Wardley had combined to produce a 12-round, back-and-forth British heavyweight classic in March last year but the rematch in Riyadh seven months later could not have been in starker contrast.

The official time of the stoppage in the rematch was 2:28 of the opening round as Wardley blitzed his previously undefeated opponent to emphatically draw a line under their rivalry with one of the most chilling stoppages in recent memory.

“There's no way to really put other than it was the worst night of my f---ing life,” Clarke tells The Ring. “It’s as simple as that. Did it bother me? Yes. Will it bother me forever? Probably.

“If you're a proud person and you're a fighter, that's the worst outcome. There's no other outcome that could be possibly worse than that.”

After immediate surgery in Riyadh, Clarke then boarded his flight back to the UK, where his worried family were waiting. Only then, the 33-year-old says, did he realise the impact of the defeat.

“Oh man, it was just…” Clarke says, before pausing to find the right words. “You know when you used to watch episodes of Eastenders where Phil Mitchell was on a mad one with a bottle of vodka on the park bench? That's how it felt every day to be honest.

“But you know what makes it hard? It’s the fact that when bad things happen in life, the world still carries on. When I got back on the Monday morning, I went straight from the airport to my daughter’s school. She’d seen what had happened in the fight and was all upset so I went to see her straight away.

“I wanted to just let her know that I was alright because I was very worried about what she'd seen. Then I went to see my son too and we had a lovely night with the family just really being thankful that the situation wasn't worse than it was. It could have been a lot worse, the way it looked on TV. As mad as it sounds, we had a nice night with a lot of laughter and love, everyone was just happy I was back in one piece.

“But then the next day, on the Tuesday, my Mrs went back to work, the kids had gone to school and I find myself at home on my own. I just drew the curtains and stuck Only Fools And Horses on and sat there. I didn’t touch my phone for about a week because it was just blowing up. And I couldn’t get away from seeing the knockout which I didn’t really want to see - so yeah, it’s a dark place."

There were some suggestions in the immediate aftermath that Clarke, who turns 34 in August, might not box again. It’s worth noting, however, that none of them came from him. The usual period of soul searching was to follow but he never once considered throwing in the towel after just 10 professional fights, regardless of the nature of his first defeat.

“You have this unwavering delusion that you are invincible and I'm not afraid to say that,” he adds.

“I've had some of my friends ask me how I’d get on against a prime Mike Tyson, Anthony Joshua or with Tyson Fury. You seem to always back yourself and think you'll find a way so I'm not embarrassed to say that,

“I didn't think what happened was possible and that's just the headspace you get yourself into. But looking back now I was probably a little bit naive against Fabio Wardley, who is a very dangerous puncher. It did happen but this is what being a champion is about; reflecting and learning and I'm definitely doing that now.

“I'm not taking that as a loss or a failure, it was just one of the biggest lessons I can ever get that's going to propel me going forward in my career.”

The good news for Clarke is that he did not require any plates in his face to aid his recovery, which was far quicker than many imagined. In fact, he was back sparring before the end of the year. And, what’s more, he returns to a bustling domestic scene full of opportunities for more big nights.

In Manchester on April 5, David Adeleye beat Jeamie TKV for the British title on a show topped by Clarke’s old amateur rival Joe Joyce. Next month at the Copper Box, Johnny Fisher and Dave Allen meet in an anticipated rematch of their December clash in Riyadh. That is not to mention the likes of Dillian Whyte and Hughie Fury who would also represent potential opponents for Clarke.

“We're all floating around the same level,” he nods. “Johnny Fisher comes through against Dave Allen, I think that's another great domestic heavyweight fight that people will be interested in seeing.

“I am 33 now so my ambition is just to be in good fights, to win good fights and then see where that takes us. But is my ambition still to be a world champion? Absolutely, it has to be. But I'm just a realist. If it happens that’s fantastic but for now let’s get in competitive fights again and win them to climb the ranks as well as I can.”

His first step on the comeback trail comes at the BP Pulse Arena on April 20, when he faces unpredictable Ghanaian puncher Ebenezer Tetteh. A second successive defeat might just end his chances of any more big domestic nights.

Clarke added: “Tetteh does not come to dive on the floor, so not for one second am I looking past him. He can make you look really bad and he can upset the apple cart so I'm doing my diligence. I’m doing a proper camp in Loughborough, staying over, on my own.

"Camp life is boring but I’m giving this guy all the respect I can to make sure I come through and put myself back where I think I can be.”