Daniel Dubois: The Harp-Playing Angel on the Highway to Hell

Hearing Highway to Hell played at the final press conference for this fight was a reminder that boxers can enter a very dark place indeed when they step through those ropes. Dubois and Wardley's first encounter literally looked like a vision of hell, with Wardley's face a mask of blood, as punch after thudding punch sent his head flying.

It was no picnic for Dubois either. The man from Greenwich had to haul himself off the canvas twice in the early going. People who'd bet on Wardley must have been counting their winnings, but Dubois showed his grit and clawed himself back into the contest.

In an interview with Piers Morgan, Dubois revealed that he liked to play the harp to unwind when he's not in the gym. One of the things he said the instrument gives him provides the key to his success in the ring. Rhythm. Once Dubois finds it, he becomes an incredibly hard man to beat.

When Daniel had been floored for the second time in their first fight, his trainer Don Charles slapped his face and told him to find his rhythm. Daniel listened, and from that moment onwards, the fight was his.

Wardley and his trainer, Ben Davison know that disrupting Dubois' rhythm early on is vital if they're to come away with victory this time. But what realistically, can Wardley do that's different?

Well, the Ipswich man has bulked up a bit for the rematch, weighing a career-heaviest 248 lbs. Dubois is also at a career-heaviest 254 lbs, but Fabio has narrowed the gap. That has led people to speculate that Fabio will use the extra mass to go all out for a knockout in the first couple of rounds. If he doesn't manage it, they say he'll blow a gasket and get stopped. 

Something tells me this could be a bluff from Fabio. I expect Wardley to use the one thing he failed to deploy in the first fight - his head. His early success made him abandon his boxing skills and resort to flinging one looping right hand after another, without any disguise or set-up. While Wardley will never be a boxing maestro, he is better than that.

I expect him to use more lateral movement this time, and throw his jab to Daniel's midsection, to prevent him from charging forwards and to set up shots to the head. This may also serve to break Dubois' all-important rhythm.

The jab to the body may leave Wardley exposed to counters over the top, so Fabio must be prepared for what's coming back. This is where he needs to counter Dubois' own counters. He has the speed to do so, but can he find the timing?

I agree with those who say that Wardley must make a breakthrough early on and, unlike last time, capitalise on it. But he must approach the job with patience and vary his attacks.

I will certainly not be betting on this fight but if I did, my money would be on Wardley, by devastating knockout in the middle rounds.

What's your prediction?