The corner team of Fabio Wardley have been slammed for failing to stop his epic heavyweight title showdown with Daniel Dubois.
Dubois produced one of the most heroic performances of his crazy career as he survived two heavy knockdowns to overcome Wardley in one of the best heavyweight title fights of all time.
Once Dubois had settled down into the fight, his heavy artillery was unleashed on Wardley for the remainder of the contest before Howard Foster sensibly stepped in at the start of round 11 to save Wardley from further punishment.
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The referee’s intervention was applauded throughout the boxing community, but Wardley’s corner, headed by Robert Hodgins and Ben Davison, did receive criticism for not rescuing Wardley earlier as his right eye was closing, his nose was damaged, and his face was covered in blood.
Both Foster and the ringside doctor made frequent assessments regarding Wardley’s condition, but with the commentary team on DAZN urging Wardley’s corner to call the fight off, their decision to let him continue made further damage an inevitable conclusion.
“Save the man, he’s a father, he’s got a family. Pull the plug on this one now,” said Darren Barker when calling the action in Manchester.
His co-commentator for the fight, Carl Frampton, a former world champion like Barker, believed the fight should have been stopped much earlier by adding, “his corner should have stepped in before the 10th round, at least.”
On Instagram, Shane McGuigan, Dubois’ former trainer, was not happy with what he saw from Wardley’s corner.
“Pull him out you chumps…Fabio is an amazing puncher but he was so hurt that I believe the ouch power had left him.”
Fabio Wardley and Daniel DuboisSource: FOX SPORTS
The general consensus from the boxing world was that Wardley received far too much punishment than necessary, but it must be remembered that his team know him better than anyone watching or commentating on the fight.
After dropping Dubois twice, it was clear that Wardley could hurt his opponent, but as stated by McGuigan, that punch power was almost certain to lose its impact as Wardley weakened and Dubois got stronger.
The facial damage suffered by Wardley will have made his task harder and there were moments when walking around the ring when his legs seemed to be betraying him even when he was just trying to navigate the fight.
In his previous two fights before Dubois, Wardley had overcame numerous tough moments before pulling miracles out of the bag late on, but whatever you want to say about the qualities of Justis Huni and Joseph Parker, neither possess the power of Dubois nor were they landing as freely and frequently as the London man.
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Wardley’s coach, Davison, revealed on Sunday night why the towel wasn’t thrown in.
“I actually agree the fight could [have] been stopped earlier,” he posted to social media.
“I did not see Fabio stumble before walking over to the doctor at the start of round 10 as ironically we were discussing with each other to ‘have the towel in hand’ by which time he had gone over and seen the doctor and seemed much steadier on his legs which is what we saw.
“It’s such a difficult job to not only find a balance but to strike at the right time to stop a fight like that on a whim when your guy is responsive and firing back.
“I’ve been praised for not towelling Fury (Wilder). I was praised for not towelling Wood (Conlan). I was firstly criticised then later praised for towelling Wood (Lara).
“Two occasions we looked at it but one, the end of the round came [and] two, Fabio fired back and killed Dubois’ momentum. Again very difficult in the circumstances of the fighter being responsive and firing back.
“I’ve seen mixed opinions on this one but I agree it COULD [have] been stopped earlier. However, with that said I think Howard Foster got it bang on from his terms.”
It is unlikely we will see Wardley fight until 2027 and it could even be a rematch with Dubois for the heavyweight title he’s just lost.
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Parts of this article have appeared on DAZN News.