A little more than one round of heavyweight fighting on Saturday saw a repeat of Daniel Dubois’ victory over Fabio Wardley scored five months earlier.
Back in May, Dubois had to climb the canvas twice in front of Wardley’s overhang so resonant it became a painful, awkward watch. But in a rematch at the O2 Arena in London, victory came even easier as Dubois retained his WBO heavyweight championship in style, knocking Wardley out in the first round and stopping him well in the second.
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After the fight, Queensberry Promotions founder Frank Warren surprised Dubois, who said it was a “search and destroy mission.”
“I’m ready for war,” Dubois said in a press conference after the fight. “Whatever he did, it didn’t affect me. Punches or anything. I was going through him. I was in the zone. I didn’t want to lose.”
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Such was Dubois’ dominance that Wardley landed one punch in the first round and only three in the second, limiting him to a miserable 15% (4-of-27) accuracy — a far cry from Wardley’s far better work in the first fight, when he connected on 27% of his 358 punches.
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Wardley has never been in Saturday’s fight, and many seem to know the reasons behind the event.
Daniel Dubois stopped Fabio Wardley in less than four minutes in their WBO world heavyweight title rematch.
(Action Images via Reuters/REUTERS)
“You see a lot of mental scars on him [from the first fight]” Dubois said. “I just had to get him back to that place.”
Speaking after Wardley’s corner threw down a white towel, Warren called the former champion “powerful”, “strong” and “beautiful”. But not everyone left their mark on the sand.
“I think” [Wardley] “IBF heavyweight champion Filip Hrgovic told reporters. “Not good. He made a bundle of money, performed a miracle, and became a world champion. [but] to withdraw and enjoy [life].
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Hrgovic echoed Dubois’ words on the DAZN post-show, stating that Wardley is back soon after the devastating Maias loss.
Wardley, although retirement is not contemplated. But Dubois looks to the man who destroyed him for inspiration.
Six years ago, Dubois was counted out when it was perceived that he was resting in his fight against Joe Joyce, losing by a 10th round knockout due to a knee injury. Dubois’ only subsequent losses came to Oleksandr Usyk; Knockouts over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua are among his wins.
“The preparation for me was not ideal,” Wardley told DAZN after leaving the ring. “And Danihel learned a lot from the first fight and came out with a better game. That’s all. I lost. It is what it is.”
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Wardley continued: “It’s Daniel’s testament to losing, coming back, and winning the title again. And I’ll look to do the same.”
Dubois ended his journey by using Wardley as his motivation: “I know who I am, and they don’t want to give up. The warrior’s mentality always comes back. To try again. To try harder.
“We’ll see if he does.”