Tony Sims saw enough in his brief time with Daniel Dubois to believe he will beat Fabio Wardley on Saturday evening.
The experienced trainer was briefly recruited to lead Dubois when, in the aftermath of his second defeat by Oleksandr Usyk, he split with Don Charles, and to that end Sims targeted a fight with Wardley after watching Wardley defeat Joseph Parker.
Dubois split from Sims and rehired Charles before he and Sims had even got as far as having a fight together, but the trainer – who once led Anthony Joshua to the IBF heavyweight title and believes that Dubois’ power surpasses even Joshua’s – is confident that at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England he will inflict Wardley’s first defeat.
The 31-year-old Wardley was elevated to the status of WBO champion in the aftermath of his career-best victory over Parker, and Sims told BoxingScene of the all-English heavyweight showdown: “It’s a tremendous fight. It always is gonna be, ‘cause they’re both punchers; they’re both game.
“I just think Daniel’s got the better fundamentals all round. He’s heavier-handed, all round, and I just don’t think that Fabio’s been in with the sort of power that Daniel carries. He had a great win over Joseph Parker, although he was losing the fight; he had a great win over Justis Huni; he was losing the fight. But Justis Huni; Frazer Clarke; Joseph Parker don’t punch like Daniel Dubois punches, and he’s a good boxer as well. So I think Fabio will be up against it.
“In heavyweight boxing, you never know what’s gonna happen. You can’t write Fabio off just ‘cause of the way he comes back and gets the win. So you can never write him off. But I favor Daniel to win that fight.
“He’s obviously had great amateur experience, compared to Fabio, and I believe he’s the bigger puncher as well. I just think it’s a good fight for him.
“I only worked with him for a few months, but he loves training and he’s a good trainer. He’s one of them kids that you have to put a lot of time into and still have to go through everything with him. Him being with Don – Don’s got a lot of time, where I’ve not always got that. I’m sometimes limited on time ‘cause of preparation for other fighters in here. But he’s a good all-round fighter – he really is – and he’s a nice boy as well.”
Before he started working with the 28-year-old Dubois, Sims also guided another English heavyweight in Johnny Fisher.
“I fancy him inside the first six rounds,” Sims also said of Dubois. “If it don’t go like that, then it could change – you could see Fabio come back. But I think Fabio will struggle to keep with him in the first six rounds.”
