Dubois Stops Wardley in Two Rounds to Keep WBO Heavyweight Belt

The rematch between Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley was much shorter than their first meeting. Dubois put Wardley on the canvas within roughly the first 15 to 20 seconds of the fight in London and finished the job in the second round, scoring a TKO to keep his WBO heavyweight title.

In the original bout in May, Dubois was dropped twice inside the first three rounds before stopping Wardley in the 11th. This time Dubois scored the first knockdown within the opening seconds and ended the fight in round two.

Wardley takes the responsibility

The fight only happened because Wardley chose to exercise his rematch clause. His decision to return five months after the May defeat had been questioned since the clause was first discussed, but Wardley rejected the idea that the short gap between fights was the problem. "I didn't execute the game plan properly, that's all," he said afterwards, adding that the responsibility for the loss was his alone and that he would go back to the drawing board.

Wardley also pointed to Dubois as an example of how a fighter can recover from setbacks and return stronger, crediting the champion for how well he had prepared and calling the sport a game of fine margins. Dubois now stands at 24-3 with 23 knockouts, while Wardley drops to 20-2-1 with 19 knockouts.

Hrgovic wants his chance

IBF heavyweight champion Filip Hrgovic was ringside and joined the post-fight scene in the ring, making clear that he wants a rematch with Dubois, which would now be a two-belt unification. Dubois stopped Hrgovic in Riyadh in 2024. Promoter Frank Warren reminded the Croatian that he still owes a mandatory defence, likely on home soil in Croatia, but signalled that Dubois vs Hrgovic 2 could follow afterwards. Warren's stated goal is to build towards an undisputed heavyweight champion in 2027.