Daniel Dubois Demolishes Fabio Wardley in Two Rounds to Retain WBO Title
Dubois dropped Wardley in the first and finished him in the second to keep his WBO heavyweight strap.
Daniel Dubois made quick work of Fabio Wardley on Saturday night, retaining his WBO heavyweight title with a second-round stoppage at the O2 Arena in London. The rematch was even more lopsided than their first meeting.
Dubois (24-3, 23 KOs) hurt Wardley almost immediately in the first round, dropping him with a clean right hand to the chin. Wardley managed to beat the count but never fully recovered, absorbing heavy shots for the remainder of the round. Per Boxing News 24, Dubois had him hurt again near the bell.
The second round was a formality. Dubois stayed in control, giving Wardley no room to mount any kind of comeback. Wardley absorbed punishment without answering back, and his corner had seen enough. They threw in the towel at 2:21 of the round. Referee Steve Gray waved it off.
It was a drastically different fight from their first collision in May, when Dubois went down twice in the opening three rounds before storming back to stop Wardley. This time there was no drama. Dubois was sharp from the opening bell and never let the Ipswich man into the fight.
Wardley (20-2-1, 19 KOs) has now been stopped in both meetings with Dubois and faces a long rebuild. For Dubois, the conversation immediately shifts to what comes next. Filip Hrgovic climbed into the ring for a face-off after the fight and is already calling for a March rematch.
The Queensberry Promotions card, broadcast on DAZN PPV, also featured Bakhodir Jalolov (18-0) cruising to a wide unanimous decision over Solomon Dacres (10-2) with a fifth-round knockdown.
Dubois is a different fighter when he sets the pace. The first fight with Wardley was a mess because he got dragged into a brawl early and paid for it with two knockdowns. This time he came out composed, landed the right hand immediately, and never let Wardley breathe. That is a guy who learned from his own near-disaster.
The question is whether he can do that against better opposition. Wardley is a puncher, not a boxer, and the gameplan was always going to be straightforward: hit him first, hit him hard, do not let him hit you back. Dubois executed that perfectly.
Now Hrgovic wants the rematch in March. I am interested. Hrgovic claims he was sick and injured the first time, and after handling Moses Itauma's speed, he says Dubois will look like slow motion. That is a lot of confidence for a guy who got cut up and outworked. But the heavyweight division needs these fights, and Dubois should not be sitting around waiting for something bigger. Take the fight, defend the belt, and let the winner position himself for an undisputed shot.
