As “Triple D” Daniel “Dynamites” Dubois demolished Fabio Wardley under the O2 canopy on Saturday, it was a double. deja vu. And so, in short, the alliteration there is about as immoderate as the punishment Wardley absorbed.
Five months after his first career loss, Wardley was stopped again by Dubois. That was the first familiarity, but this is much more ambitious. I’ll get to you soon.
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However, in one way, admitting the loss looks different this time, as he did in the fight pattern. May’s heavy banging clash at Manchester saw Wardley knock out Dubois in the first 10 seconds and again in the third round, before Dubois came together, took over the fight, and stopped Wardley bleeding late. On Saturday, the fate of the WBO title was decided within two rounds, although there is an argument that it was really decided in the first 20 seconds; that was when a jackhammer wounded Wardley in the right cross, who never really recovered.
Daniel Dubois (left) stopped Fabio Wardley within two rounds in the rematch (Getty).
It is the second case deja vuthough, the five minutes in which Wardley tried to wake himself up from this night’s untimely fluttering by the fan.
More than once, Wardley Dubois tried to deter the superiors from behind and more than once gave away penalties. This was the same shot that Anthony Joshua faced in beating Dubois in 2024, when Ben Davison was in his corner – as he was in Wardley on Saturday.
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That iron can feel like an unwise choice at the best of times, a technique that leaves you vulnerable, but these were the worst of times.
Andy Lee, one of Tyson Fury’s coaches, was quick to call out the mistake in a comment for DAZN. It is worth noting that Joshua’s fury will fuel us on December 11, Lee against Davison.
It is also worthy of note, that Lee is animated to speak instinctively, and certainly unconsciously; This did not seem to dig into Davison, who took a fair share this year – not only in the case of Wardley’s losses with Dubois, but also after the defeat of Moses Itauma by Philip Hrgovic. This article is not meant to dig Davison into the same opinion.
In addition, with Davison’s corner foot used in Joshua’s drive against Dubois in 2024, there’s always the chance that Wardley threw it voluntarily or involuntarily on Saturday. Some fans may raise their eyebrows at the suggestion, but other moments in the fight reveal flaws in Wardley’s instincts.
Ben Davison rushes to check on Anthony Joshua after his loss to Dubois (Getty).
A notoriously candidate fighter before his professional career, with no amateur name to his name, the Ipswich boxer is always under greater scrutiny than his peers, but Dubois’s attitude of aversion to boxing in the rematch was rightly highlighted by his comments as a rustic response.
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Already then, the 31-year-old found himself in the clinch – theoretically a safer resting place – but referee Steve Gray was quick to separate Wardley and Dubois, 29. Other referees might have allowed longer clinches, meaning more time for Wardley to recover. There was no inherent problem with Gray’s approach, obviously, and the lingering pains allowed Dubois to do another type of work on Wardley’s injury. Perhaps Wardley was careless after Dubois’ first attack.
Either way, questions have been raised over Wardley’s long-term future, but the division has also been interesting in the short term, with Fury taking us up on Joshua.
Tyson Fury with Davison in 2019 (Getty)
Of course, it will not be fair for us to catch Joshua in Davison’s grouping from Furia, and it is certainly not fair to fix him in a certain way – if it is a repeated mistake by his boxers.
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At the time of writing, Fury is the clear favorite over Joshua for a plethora of reasons, and Davison might actually be the best coach for “AJ” this season. This is not only based on Davison’s perceptions as one of Fury’s coaches, but also the most beautiful results that Davison and Joshua achieved between 2023 and 2024.
Joshua, who has had numerous bosses throughout his career (and who enters Fury’s forewarning on the back of a major scare against Kristian Prenga, as well as the car crash in December that killed two of his friends) needs confidence as much as anything else on December 11.
Davison would build Joshua’s confidence, but there is a fine line between confidence and the dangerous pursuit of injury. Against Fury, Davison and Joshua have never been replaced before.