Wharton made his professional debut on 21 September 1989, scoring a first-round technical knockout (TKO) victory over Dean Murray at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, England.
After winning his next 9 fights, 7 by knockout, Wharton won the vacant Commonwealth super middleweight title on 27 June 1991, beating Australian Rod Carr via points decision.
On 26 February 1994, Wharton challenged Nigel Benn (37-2-1 32 KOs) for the WBC super middleweight title at Earls Court Exhibition Hall, London, England.
Wharton went the distance with Benn, but ultimately lost by unanimous decision, with the three judges scoring the bout 117-112, 116-114 and 116-113.
[2] His second attempt at a world title came just 10 months later on 10 December 1994, against undefeated WBO super middleweight champion Chris Eubank (40-0-2 19 KOs) at G-Mex Centre, Manchester, England.