MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – Daniel Dubois dramatically recovered from two heavy knockdowns to inflict the first defeat of Fabio Wardley’s remarkable career and win the WBO heavyweight title in what may prove the fight of the year.
In the first defence of his title Wardley’s right eye was swollen shut and his nose heavily cut and bleeding and yet despite absorbing consistent punishment from one of the world’s biggest punchers he remained upright until the referee Howard Foster was forced to intervene in the 11th round.
Wardley has risen from white-collar boxing to become one of the world’s leading and entertaining heavyweights, but partly as a consequence of the injuries he suffered he struggled against the more polished and powerful Dubois, and required rescuing before Foster acted 28 seconds into the 11th.
At the conclusion of his most recent contest, in July 2025 against Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed title, Dubois was accused of quitting in the fifth round. He then replaced his trainer Don Charles with Tony Sims, spent months training under Sims without fighting, and left Sims and rehired Charles once again.
The perception of a chaotic career created partly by the house party he attended on the day of the loss to Usyk was therefore enhanced further, and yet it was under Charles – after the first of his defeats by the Ukrainian – against Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua that he recorded his finest wins.
In every way in which the 28-year-old Dubois had been groomed for greatness, Wardley has made his way to world level against considerable odds. Either side of Usyk-Dubois II he came from behind to stop both the undefeated Justis Huni and then the former world champion Joseph Parker, and it is for that reason – specifically the heart he showed that Dubois has sometimes lacked – that he had been more widely favoured to win.
The reality remained that their match-up – a classic heavyweight shootout – was even more widely expected to be settled by who would be first to land their heavy right hand and, for all of the doubts surrounding Dubois’ mentality, he proved the more physically gifted.
He perhaps looked nervous on his way to the ring, but provided a response to those questioning him in the way he not only twice returned to his feet to carry on but resisted further punishment and exhaustion to win what is certain to be remembered as a classic contest.
The way that his previous fight ended almost made it inevitable that Wardley would attempt to start fast, and so it proved when in the opening seconds he landed a powerful right hand that dropped Dubois and made him look even less at ease. He returned to his feet and attempted to prioritise his jab while Wardley swung and missed with a right, and Dubois – in a demonstration of his nerves – then wrestled him to the canvas. Wardley narrowly missed with another right hand; Dubois responded with two rights of his own that hurt the champion. They then found themselves trading again on the stroke of the bell.
Wardley found himself being backed up by Dubois’ jab in the second and, partly because Wardley continued to attempt to land his right, Dubois threw his with a lack of conviction. The left eye Dubois injured in defeat by Joe Joyce in 2020 was also starting to swell up and so too was Wardley’s right.
They exchanged right hands at the start of the third in a sign that Dubois was growing in confidence. He had the advantage in speed, but was then punished and dropped again by another big right hand.
A clean right hand in the fourth backed Wardley up, and a second narrowly missed him, but he continued to fight without fear. He ducked one right hand before absorbing two others and then a jab-right hand.
Dubois twice more backed Wardley up with his powerful jab in the fifth. A left-right combination then followed, before another right hand and a jab that knocked Wardley’s gum shield out of his mouth.
It was in the bruising draw with Frazer Clarke in 2024 that Wardley injured his nose and by the sixth it was bleeding just as heavily. He survived a succession of left and right hands by his corner and looked exhausted, but every time he was hurt he sought to swing back instead of to survive.
A clean left-right sent him back into the ropes in the seventh, and he also started to bleed by his right eye. Another right hand from Dubois hurt Wardley again; Wardley then landed a right that hurt Dubois and left them trading once more.
By the eighth Wardley’s right eye was swollen shut, and at the start of the ninth his injuries were being inspected by the ringside doctor. The cut on his nose was by then horrific, and yet his corner, the doctor and the referee – perhaps aware of the entertaining nature of what was unfolding – were reluctant to intervene.
Wardley fell short with a right as he continued to remain upright and to struggle with the consistency of Dubois’ jab. He willingly traded but was then caught by the heaviest right hand of the evening, and yet somehow again remained on his feet.
When he left his corner for the start of the 10th he was still unsteady and the doctor inspected his nose and again tested his vision. He was again allowed to fight on and somehow backed Dubois up with a right hand and stayed upright following another right hand from Dubois.
It had reached the point where his career was perhaps at risk if he continued much longer, and with him under further punishment again in the 11th Foster rightly stepped in, aware that another dramatic knockout was for the first time beyond Wardley’s reach.
His first defeat was made official but it will be reflected that Wardley, like Dubois, enhanced his reputation. Their fight was sufficiently entertaining that a rematch appears inevitable. By the time it takes place it may even be time to question how much they both have left.
Jack Rafferty had by then stopped in six rounds his fellow Englishman Ekow Essuman at welterweight.
Brad Rea also won via stoppage, against Liam Cameron in the fourth round of their all-English light-heavyweight contest. Rea dropped Cameron heavily with a left hook midway through round four before Cameron, characteristically, bravely returned to his feet. Rea then let his hands go in pursuit of the finish, landing two uppercuts, sending Cameron back to the canvas, and prompting the referee Bob to wave the action over after one minute and 35 seconds.
