{"id":804828,"date":"2026-10-16T20:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T20:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/804828\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T20:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T20:22:12","slug":"wardley-predicts-crazy-night-in-fight-for-redemption-against-dubois-boxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/804828\/","title":{"rendered":"Wardley predicts \u2018crazy night\u2019 in fight for redemption against Dubois | Boxing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five months ago, watching a likely Fight of the Year<\/a> between Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley in Manchester, a ringside seat offered an initially thrilling insight into the raw brutality of heavyweight boxing. It was easy to be swept up in the drama as Wardley, defending his WBO title, dropped his more seasoned and favoured rival in the first and third rounds. But Dubois, whose courage had been questioned before, got up both times and fought back with admirable resolve.<\/p>\n

Dubois soon took control of the contest<\/a> and administered a punishing beating, round after round, as concern for Wardley intensified. It was a worrying sight as the reeling champion refused to go down amid the damage being done to him by the bludgeoning power by Dubois. A terrible gash opened up across the bridge of Wardley\u2019s nose and his face looked swollen. The end was finally confirmed in the 11th round, after the referee rescued Wardley from his own bravery, but it was the kind of heavy loss which takes years off a fighter\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

Wardley is one of the most intelligent and articulate fighters<\/a> in Britain and it\u2019s surprising that he has insisted on a rematch this Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London. A much longer rest, and then a far less perilous return to the ring, would have been a wise and pragmatic option. But the 31-year-old, whose previously unbeaten record was ruined by Dubois, insisted this week that \u201cthe thought of [their first fight] is worse than the reality. You put a bit of blood there, add some water and sweat and a punch that makes it spray everywhere, and all of a sudden it looks like a Quentin Tarantino film. It looks a bit mental.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there was no real actual physical damage aside from cosmetically. There was a cut, but my nose wasn\u2019t broken. I could still breathe fine, everything in good working order. I was just leaking a bit [of blood]. But I\u2019ve been hit earlier in my career with harder shots that have rocked me more than anything that happened in the first fight between us.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also suggested that fatigue, rather than the concussive force of Dubois\u2019s punches, unravelled him. None of this really matches the sight of the weaving and broken figure Wardley resembled on that compelling but disturbing night in Manchester.<\/p>\n

At this week\u2019s press conference Wardley added: \u201cI was unlikely to get through this boxing game unscathed with an undefeated record, because I want to be in there with the best guys. And that puts you in jeopardy. I can right those wrongs. Now is the fun bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dubois looked unimpressed and, in a typically terse response, dismissed any idea that Wardley would face anything but a night freighted with pain: \u201cI\u2019m feeling stronger, just grounded and ready to go out there and do my job. Do this thing and move on to bigger and better things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniel Dubois recovered from two early knockdowns to stop Fabio Wardley in the 11th round in May. Photograph: Dave Thompson\/AP<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old Dubois has beaten Anthony Joshua<\/a> and Filip Hrgovic, who now holds the IBF version<\/a> of the world title, and he is a prohibitive favourite to beat Wardley again. \u201cI\u2019m a better fighter, an improved fighter,\u201d Dubois said. \u201cI\u2019ll finish it quicker. I\u2019m gonna school him again. That experience, and amateur background that you can\u2019t buy, is what I\u2019ve got on my side. Even without that, I\u2019ve got his number. This time around, it\u2019s going to be more clinical.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wardley\u2019s best chance might be to use his own considerable power early in another slugfest and hope that, this time, his punches overwhelm Dubois. \u201cIt\u2019s only going one way,\u201d Wardley said. \u201cIt\u2019s finishing early one way or another. It\u2019s going to be a crazy night. Everyone, tune in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Derek Chisora, the battered old warhorse of a heavyweight who is threatening to make yet another comeback to the ring, was scathing on the radio this week. \u201cI think this is Wardley\u2019s last fight,\u201d Chisora said. \u201cI believe he is concentrating on being a pundit. I don\u2019t think he wants to box any more; I think this is a cash-out. Wardley is going to come out in the first three rounds and try to lay it on Daniel but, after three rounds, Daniel is going to get another knockout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wardley, instead, has insisted that he will use the experience of his two fights against Frazer Clarke to plot an unlikely victory. After he and Clarke fought each to a near standstill in a savage contest which ended as a blood-spattered draw in March 2024, also at the O2, Wardley dismantled the same man and knocked him out shockingly in just over two minutes seven months later. He believes that he can conjure up another startling turnaround against Dubois.<\/p>\n

But the cold hard logic of the ring suggests that, this time, Wardley is trading in dangerous fantasy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Five months ago, watching a likely Fight of the Year between Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley in Manchester,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":804829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[59,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-804828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-gb","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/804829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}