Daniel Dubois once again owns a portion of the heavyweight crown, but it wasn't easy Saturday night. He got off the canvas twice in the early rounds and pounded champ Fabio Wardley into submission in the 11th to gain the WBO world title.
It wasn't easy and required him to get off the canvas two times early in the fight, but Daniel Dubois wore down and brutally beat up Fabio Wardley to stop him in the 11th round on a TKO and become the WBO heavyweight champion Saturday night in Manchester England.
The bout capped a Queensberry promotions PPV on DAZN.
Dubois, now 24-3, 23 KOs, regains a portion of the heavyweight title, yet again, as he continually smashed Wardley's face with big bomb right hands and lefts behind them.
Wardley's face began to swell badly and his nose appeared to obviously be broken in the middle of the fight, as the blood flowed everywhere all over his trunks and referee Howard Foster's long sleeve blue shirt. It became obvious once the 9th and 10th rounds we're going on that Wardley had nothing left, was exhausted and taking a brutal beating. Finally, the end came in the 11th after barrage of punches by Dubois trapped Wardley one more time and the referee ended things.
The defeat is Wardley's first of his career, 21-1-1, and came after his dramatic win over Joseph Parker to capture the WBO title last November on an 11th round TKO himself. But, on this night he simply could not overcome the brutal onslaught of punches that Dubois put on him, once he got off the canvas the second time.
The beginning of the fight was anything but easy for Dubois, as Wardley knocked him down with the first punch on the top of his head just 10 seconds in. Dubois was stunned, but not seriously hurt and Wardley could not press the advantage, although he landed a couple of more good shots.
Amazingly, Dubois, who previously held the IBF heavyweight crown, rallied in the second round and was the better fighter behind his fierce left jab. The muscular 245 lb Brit appeared to be back in control, when Wardley dropped hin, again, with a right hand to the forehead in the third round and this time he appeared to be more hurt However, the champion, who had 17.000 fans in the CoOp Live Arena roaring for him, couldn't press the advantage and didn't finish DuBois.
And, that would prove to be the key turning point of the fight. From there on, amazingly, DuBois was the better fighter landing the more devastating punches cumulatively, as Wardley's face began to swell.
He hurt Wardley badly in the sixth round of the fight and the nose was bleeding freely from then on. It looked as though the fight might be stopped a couple of times by the ringside doctor and it became almost sad that neither Wardley's corner or the referee Foster would step in. This, as he repeatedly took power shot after power shot in the 9th and the 10th rounds, seemingly unnecessarily.
Finally, sanity prevailed and Dubois got the stoppage that will now put him back in the big time "mega payday" realm of the heavyweight division.
The bout will certainly be a candidate for fight of the year and the wild drama was reminiscent of another Brit, Tyson Fury, getting off the canvas twice in his trilogy fight in October 2021 with American Deontay Wilder to stop him on a late round TKO
Dubois was asked post-fight in the ring what happened in the first 10 seconds of the bout?
"Flash knockdown. I have to get back up and bounce it off and come back harder. I'm a warrior."
Then, he was asked about getting control of the bout, starting with the jab
"I had to pull it out of the bag and rely on it. I had to use all my skills. What a great fight. What a great battle, man, but I'm #1, again."
Then, he was asked whether it surprised him that Wardley kept taking his big right hands,
"He's a durable guy, you know. He's a great figher. A durable warrior. Thank you for a great fight, man. It was an honor to be in the ring with him."
Dubois has lost two previous times by KO to current unified heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk, who is fighting kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in a pay-per-view defense in Egypt at the end of the month. So, it's not likely that Dubois would get that fight for a third time.
However, Dubois who also holds a humongous win on his resume' knocking out former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in October of 2024, could be in position now to fight rising British phenom contender, Moses Itauma. The 21 year old, unbeaten Itauma is the mandatory challenger for the WBO and was in attendance in Manchester on Saturday. He said pre-fight to DAZN that if Dubois won, he absolutely would want a shot at the title.
For now all we do know for sure is- DuBois was the better fighter on a wild night in Manchester and the hope is Wardley did not sustain serious damage long-term from the beating he took in the back half of the fight