Daniel Dubois retained his WBO heavyweight title with a devastating second-round stoppage of fellow Briton Fabio Wardley in their world title rematch at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night. The Dubois Wardley WBO title fight lasted barely four minutes of action before Wardley’s corner threw in the towel.
The 29-year-old champion made a storming start and floored Wardley with a straight right after only 17 seconds of the opening round. Wardley, 31, beat the count and could have been stopped at the end of the first round when he took a further brutal pounding on the ropes but was saved by the bell.
There was no escape in the second round. Dubois picked up where he left off, landing punch after punch until the towel came in and referee Steve Gray brought the fight to a close. The official time of the stoppage was two minutes and 21 seconds of the round.
“Fabio is a great warrior, coming in for a second time, but it was my time and my era,” said Dubois, who improved to 24 wins with three defeats, 23 of them by knockout. “I had my intentions, bad intentions, from the beginning. Our back was against the wall the first time, this time we just had to go out there and show that we mean business and that’s what we did tonight.”
Role reversal from the Manchester classic
The explosive opening was a complete role reversal from the two fighters’ first meeting in May, when Wardley floored Dubois after just 16 seconds. Dubois climbed off the canvas twice that night to take the title in the 11th round of a thunderous and bloody clash in Manchester, inflicting Wardley’s first defeat as a professional.
Wardley had been promoted to WBO champion last November after Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title. He was acclaimed for his courage and refusal to give in the first time around, but on Saturday he looked a shell of the man seen in Manchester. He now has a 20-2-1 record.
“It’s never fun to lose, but it is what it is,” said Wardley, who took up professional boxing relatively late after starting in white-collar bouts. “I’ve always thrown myself in with the best competitors out there, the toughest, the biggest, hardest, meanest guys around. There’s no shame in testing yourself against the best. Boxing is a game of fine margins. It can be done and over in a round or two or it can go into a big old war like it was last time. I didn’t execute the game plan properly tonight. That was all. I hold my hands up to that.”
Dubois Wardley WBO title rematch sets up unification talk
Dubois had arrived at the O2 at his career-heaviest weight, tipping the scales alongside Wardley at Friday’s weigh-in, and he carried that power into the ring from the first bell. The fight-week build-up had pointed to a tight contest; few expected it to end this quickly.
The win sharpens the picture at the top of a heavyweight division that has been splintered since Usyk vacated his WBC, WBA and IBF belts in June. Dubois was previously the IBF champion, losing it to Usyk in London in July last year before coming back to take the WBO belt from Wardley.
Croatian Filip Hrgovic, the IBF champion after beating Britain’s Moses Itauma in August, was ringside on Saturday and challenged Dubois to a fight with both belts on the line. “It was an easy night for Daniel. He did a good job, quick win. So he’s ready to fight me in March, right Daniel?” said Hrgovic, before promoter Frank Warren suggested he might have to deal with other candidates first.
Dubois beat the Croatian in June 2024 to take the interim IBF belt and was then upgraded to champion when Usyk vacated his title. “I want to have a rematch with him, I want to get my old belt back and rule the division,” said Dubois. “I’m the champion now, and I want to get some big fights in. This stage of my career, big money, big fights.”
The heavyweight scene remains crowded, with Tyson Fury’s showdown with Anthony Joshua selling out within an hour and Fury’s ring walk with Donald Trump making headlines earlier this month. For now, though, the division belongs to Dubois.
Source: The Express Tribune
How did Dubois beat Wardley in the rematch?
Dubois floored Wardley after 17 seconds of the first round with a straight right. After Wardley survived to the bell, Dubois resumed the assault in the second round until Wardley’s corner threw in the towel at 2:21, with referee Steve Gray stopping the fight.
What are the fighters’ records after the rematch?
Dubois improved to 24 wins and three defeats, with 23 knockouts. Wardley fell to 20 wins, two defeats and one draw.
What happened in their first fight?
In May in Manchester, Wardley floored Dubois after 16 seconds and again later in the fight, but Dubois climbed off the canvas twice to stop Wardley in the 11th round and take the WBO title.
