Daniel Dubois won a chaotic instant classic with Fabio Wardley on Saturday night, climbing off the canvas twice to win the WBO heavyweight title.
Wardley dropped his fellow Briton with perhaps the second punch he threw, before putting Dubois down again in the third frame. At that juncture, a victory for the 28-year-old seemed beyond improbable.
But Dubois, a former IBF champion, finally silenced the longstanding questions about his heart to turn the tide. He gradually dismantled Wardley, 31, whose nose was a bloody mess and whose right eye was close to shutting.
After the referee seemed to consider stopping the bout a few times, he ultimately awarded Dubois an 11th-round win in Manchester. With that, Wardley was beaten for the first time.
“I know I’ve got heart, bundles of heart,” said Dubois in the ring after the fight. “I’m a warrior in there. [The first knockdown was a] flash knockdown, you have to get back up and come back harder, man. I’m a warrior. I thank Fabio for a great fight, man. I thank this team, and we move on now. All glory to God for this victory.”
Wardley thanked the crowd on his way out of the arena, before Frank Warren – who promotes both men – revealed there was a rematch clause in the contract for Saturday’s main event.
The result marked Wardley’s first loss (20-1-1, 19 KOs), as he was beaten in his first defence of a world title. Last time out, in October, he fought from behind to knock out Joseph Parker and win the interim WBO heavyweight belt – which was soon upgraded when Oleksandr Usyk vacated the official title.
Meanwhile, Dubois (23-3, 22 KOs) entered the Co-op Live arena on the back of his second stoppage loss to Usyk, which was his third defeat overall. Dubois’s only other loss was a prior stoppage by Joe Joyce, in which “Dynamite” took a knee after suffering an orbital fracture – a moment that birthed a longstanding doubt about Dubois’s heart.
Those questions were harsh, however, as Dubois proved on Saturday, by rising twice and withstanding Wardley’s best offence to secure the unlikeliest of victories.
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Wardley dropped the Londoner with practically the second punch he threw, an overhand right, before flooring Dubois with a one-two in the third frame.
But thereafter, Dubois gradually broke down the Ipswich boxer, aggravating a pre-existing nasal injury to leave Wardley’s face streaming with blood. Furthermore, Dubois – whose left eye looked close to closing – almost punched Wardley’s right eye shut.
The referee had Wardley inspected by a ringside doctor at the start of round nine (for his nose) and round 10 (for his eye), but both times the champion was allowed to continue. The inspections drew boos, but both times the resumed action brought deafening cheers.
Perhaps that was unwise, as Wardley had begun to sustain increasingly-severe punishment, with Dubois close to sealing a finish at the end of several rounds.
Ultimately, the stoppage came after Dubois’s first meaningful attack in the penultimate frame, as he became a two-time world champion.
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