Fabio Wardley has predicted a “crazy night” as he seeks redemption against Daniel Dubois in Saturday night’s WBO heavyweight title rematch at the O2 Arena in London, five months after losing the belt in a brutal first contest in Manchester.
In that May meeting, Wardley dropped the favoured Dubois in the first and third rounds, but Dubois recovered both times and took control, delivering a punishing beating round after round. A severe gash opened across the bridge of Wardley’s nose and his face swelled as the champion refused to go down. The fight was stopped in the 11th round when the referee rescued Wardley from further punishment.
Wardley’s defence of the rematch
Wardley, whose previously unbeaten record was ruined by Dubois, said this week: “The thought of it is worse than the reality. You put a bit of blood there, add some water and sweat and a punch that makes it spray everywhere, and all of a sudden it looks like a Quentin Tarantino film. It looks a bit mental.”
“But there was no real actual physical damage aside from cosmetically. There was a cut, but my nose wasn’t broken. I could still breathe fine, everything in good working order. I was just leaking a bit [of blood]. But I’ve been hit earlier in my career with harder shots that have rocked me more than anything that happened in the first fight between us.”
He also suggested that fatigue, rather than the concussive force of Dubois’s punches, unravelled him. At this week’s press conference Wardley added: “I was unlikely to get through this boxing game unscathed with an undefeated record, because I want to be in there with the best guys. And that puts you in jeopardy. I can right those wrongs. Now is the fun bit.”
Dubois vows a more clinical finish
Dubois, 29, who has beaten Anthony Joshua and Filip Hrgovic, dismissed Wardley’s hopes in a terse response: “I’m feeling stronger, just grounded and ready to go out there and do my job. Do this thing and move on to bigger and better things.”
“I’m a better fighter, an improved fighter,” Dubois said. “I’ll finish it quicker. I’m gonna school him again. That experience, and amateur background that you can’t buy, is what I’ve got on my side. Even without that, I’ve got his number. This time around, it’s going to be more clinical.”
Wardley’s best chance might be to use his own considerable power early in another slugfest. “It’s only going one way,” Wardley said. “It’s finishing early one way or another. It’s going to be a crazy night. Everyone, tune in.”
Chisora’s scathing verdict
Derek Chisora was scathing on the radio this week, saying: “I think this is Wardley’s last fight. I believe he is concentrating on being a pundit. I don’t think he wants to box any more; I think this is a cash-out. Wardley is going to come out in the first three rounds and try to lay it on Daniel but, after three rounds, Daniel is going to get another knockout.”
Wardley, instead, has insisted he will use the experience of his two fights against Frazer Clarke to plot an unlikely victory. After he and Clarke fought to a blood-spattered draw in March 2024, also at the O2, Wardley knocked Clarke out in just over two minutes seven months later. He believes he can conjure another startling turnaround against Dubois, though the cold hard logic of the ring suggests he is trading in dangerous fantasy.
