Former WBO heavyweight champ Fabio Warley wasted no time in activating a rematch clause to meet the man that destroyed him over 11 rounds and took his title last Saturday, Daniel Dubois.
Former WBO world heavyweight champ Fabio Wardley has decided that despite the beating that Daniel Dubois gave him in an 11 round TKO upset last Saturday night, he wants a chance to regain his title .
Wardley has informed Dubois and his team that he's elected to exercise his rematch clause in their deal for the fight held at the CoOp Live Arena in Manchester, England, last Saturday night.
Queensberry Promotions (who promotes both fighters) confirmed the move on social media Friday afternoon,
Their brief statement read,
"Queensberry can confirm that Fabio Wardley has activated the rematch clause following his defeat in last week’s WBO world title fight against Daniel Dubois at the Co-op Live in Manchester.
All parties will now work towards a rematch of their fight of the year contender for later in 2026."
Dubois regained a portion of the heavyweight crown after being knocked down in the first and the third rounds of the bout. He showed tremendous resolve and behind a powerful left jab began to pound Wardley in the middle rounds.
Wardley’s face became badly swollen as the fight wore on, and his nose appeared clearly broken, with blood pouring across his trunks and onto referee Howard Foster’s long sleeve shirt. By the ninth and tenth rounds, it was evident that Wardley had little left in the tank. Exhausted and overwhelmed, he absorbed a relentless and punishing assault from Dubois round after round.
The end finally came in the 11th round when Dubois unleashed another devastating barrage, trapping Wardley against the ropes once again. Seeing Wardley unable to defend himself effectively, Foster stepped in to stop the contest.
The loss marked the first defeat of Wardley’s professional career, dropping his record to 21-1-1. It came only months after his dramatic 11th-round TKO victory over Joseph Parker last November to win the WBO title.
And, Wardley is going to have to have time to recover from the brutal loss and the numerous head shots that he took.
Meanwhile, there was some speculation that if Wardley did not exercise the rematch clause, that Dubois might fight rising British phenom, Moses Itauma. The 21 year old Itauma is 14-0, 12 KOs and is the mandatory challenger for the WBO.
Another Queensberry fighter, he was in attendance in Manchester last Saturday and said pre-fight to DAZN that if Dubois won, he absolutely would want a shot at the title.
For now, though Itauma will headline for Queensberry on August 8th in London and the opponent for him is very possibly Croatian contender Filip Hrgovic.
Then, he'd possibly get a title shot with Dubois, if he wins the second fight However, he and Wardley share trainer Ben Davison, so, they likely won't fight, if Wardley wins.
Now, we wait for it all to sort out in the coming weeks.