The May 9 heavyweight collision between Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois, for the former's WBO title and promoted by Queensberry, is heading for a sell-out, BoxingScene has learned.
Such matters wouldn't ordinarily merit a story. But these ticket sales are different. These are the same ticket sales, according to a by-now infamous Ring Magazine social media post, that were supposedly struggling. Yet when that February 25 post was published, the tickets were still days away from even going on sale.
February 25 was also the day when news of Queensberry’s legal action against Sela and TKO was reported. Sela and TKO have close links to Turki Alalshikh, who also owns Ring Magazine.
“Rumors indicate that [Queensberry’s] announcement to the media of legal action was timed before their Wardley v Dubois press conference, which took place today, for an event which is struggling to sell tickets,” read part of the post.
It was confirmed Wednesday to BoxingScene that ticket sales for the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England are “going extremely well” and a sell-out for the all-British showdown is fully expected.
The fight is one of the best to made in the heavyweight division. Wardley, 20-0-1 (19 KOs), was elevated to full WBO beltholder after he defeated Joseph Parker in October last year. Dubois’ excellent run of form, which saw him beat Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua, saw him claim the IBF title in similar circumstances in 2024.
Oleksandr Usyk, who has so far declined the opportunity fight Wardley, put an end to that run last July. But Dubois, 22-3 (21 KOs), remains one of the hardest punchers in the division and is arguably Wardley’s toughest test to date.
