Boxing: Daniel Dubois stops Fabio Wardley to keep his WBO title

Daniel Dubois kept his WBO heavyweight title on Saturday 17 October in London, stopping Fabio Wardley in the second round. The rematch between the two Britons, 161 days after their first fight, lasted less than four minutes. Dubois moves to 24 wins and 3 losses, 23 inside the distance. Wardley drops to 20 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw.

A blistering start

Dubois pressed from the opening bell. A right hand put Wardley down in the first half of the round, less than twenty seconds in according to Yahoo Sports. Wardley got up, but Dubois trapped him on the ropes late in the round. ESPN reports that his trainer, Ben Davison, was already holding the towel when the bell rang. Wardley tried to work behind his jab in the second without slowing the champion. Dubois came forward again and the fight was stopped in that round, at 2:21 according to Bleacher Report.

Their first meeting, in May, went much longer. Dubois won by stoppage in the eleventh round, taking Wardley's unbeaten record and the WBO belt. That fight was widely cited as a Fight of the Year contender. Before the rematch, the questions were whether Wardley could fix his mistakes and how much he had left after that war. The answer came quickly. Wardley, a puncher who has won 19 of his 20 fights inside the distance, never found the room to land his own power shots.

For Dubois, who has already faced Oleksandr Usyk, the win confirms the standing he rebuilt with his 2024 stoppage of Anthony Joshua. On the microphone he asked the crowd "Are you not entertained?" and said it was his time and his era. Wardley congratulated him and said there was no shame in losing at this level.

Towards unification in 2027

After the fight, Croatia's Filip Hrgovic, the IBF champion since stopping Moses Itauma in August, entered the ring for a face-off with Dubois. Promoter Frank Warren, who works with Dubois, Hrgovic, WBC champion Agit Kabayel and Tyson Fury, said unification fights await all his champions next year. Kabayel defends his WBC title in Germany next month. No fight has yet been made official for Dubois.