Queensberry Promotions founder Frank Warren fears his heavyweight fighter, Fabio Wardley, shaved years off his career because of the sustained beating Daniel Dubois inflicted on him when they collided in a fire-fight on Saturday in Manchester, England.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at the punches that he took and he got up and he gritted his teeth and got on with it, and he\u2019s matured and he boxed extremely well,\u201d said Warren when speaking with talkSPORT. \u201cIt was magnificent.\u201d<\/p>\n
For as much praise Warren reserved for Wardley, he also waxed lyrical over Dubois \u2014 particularly because of his career arc in which he received criticism for taking a knee in the Joe Joyce loss, regrouped, and has now added significant wins over the likes of Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic, and Anthony Joshua, among others.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnybody who doubts Daniel now, I don\u2019t know what planet they\u2019re on,\u201d said Warren. \u201cHe\u2019s matured mentally and I\u2019ve believed in him, we\u2019ve stuck with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
It all leads to what\u2019s next. The heavyweight scene is thrilling, particularly in Britain and Europe, but some fights are tied up. Oleksandr Usyk fights Rico Verhoeven later this month in a novelty match, and Tyson Fury and Joshua circle one another before a Battle of Britain.<\/p>\n
Unless Dubois takes on Moses Itauma or Agit Kabayel, a rematch against Wardley \u2014 which Warren said on the night was contractually-bound \u2014 could be next. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a rematch clause,\u201d Warren reiterated, \u201cbut it won\u2019t happen for a while because it\u2019s going to take a long time. <\/p>\n
\u201cI sent Fabio a message yesterday, he\u2019s home now safely with his family and he\u2019s got to recover, as has Daniel. <\/p>\n
\u201cThose fights take a lot out of you and it\u2019s definitely a fight I suppose all the fans would like to see. Whether it happens or not, I don\u2019t know, but that\u2019s going to be down to Fabio and his team.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wardley, specifically, Warren added: \u201cHe\u2019s had quite a few stitches and he\u2019s obviously down because he got beat, but he gave a massively great account of himself, and now it\u2019s all about him spending time with his family and his new daughter. So that\u2019s what he\u2019ll do and when the time\u2019s right, we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warren then said he thinks the fight was allowed to go on for too long, which caused Wardley to suffer more damage than was necessary once it was established there was no way back for him, despite an extraordinary start in which he scored two knockdowns in the first three rounds, but then lost momentum to Dubois, who boxed behind a jab and brutal combinations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what the thought process behind them was because that fact what he did in both the fights with [Justis] Huni and [Joseph] Parker, how he pulled it out the bag \u2014 but he didn\u2019t take the punishment of the Parker and Huni fight as he did against Daniel, and Daniel is a phenomenal puncher,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBen [Davison] and the team, they\u2019re seasoned trainers and cornermen. They feel they know what they\u2019re doing, but me, I would\u2019ve pulled my man out.\u201d<\/p>\n