Daniel Dubois retained his WBO heavyweight title with a dominant second-round stoppage of Fabio Wardley at London’s O2 Arena.
The champion made an explosive start to their rematch, flooring Wardley with a straight right just 17 seconds after the opening bell. Wardley rose before the count ended, but was subjected to sustained punishment on the ropes before the bell brought the first round to a close.
There was no respite in the second. Dubois continued to land heavily until Wardley’s corner threw in the towel, prompting referee Steve Gray to stop the contest.
“Fabio is a great warrior, coming in for a second time, but it was my time and my era,” Dubois said. “I had my intentions, bad intentions, from the beginning.
“Our back was against the wall the first time. This time, we just had to go out there and show that we mean business, and that’s what we did tonight.”
The result completed a striking contrast with their first meeting in May, when Dubois recovered from two knockdowns — the first after 16 seconds — before stopping Wardley in the 11th round of a bruising contest in Manchester.
Wardley had been praised for his resilience in that fight, but he was unable to reproduce it in London. The 31-year-old now has 20 wins and two defeats as a professional, while Dubois improved his record to 24 victories and three losses.
“I’ve always thrown myself in with the best competitors out there, the toughest, the biggest, hardest, meanest guys around. There’s no shame in testing yourself against the best,” Wardley said.
“Daniel’s a testament to coming up short and coming again. I’ll be looking to do the exact same thing.
“Boxing is a game of fine margins. It can be done and over in a round or two, or it can go into a big old war like it was last time.”
Dubois previously held the IBF title before losing it to Oleksandr Usyk in London in July last year. He later took the WBO belt from Wardley.
Filip Hrgovic, the IBF champion after defeating Moses Itauma in August, was ringside and challenged Dubois to a unification fight.
“It was an easy night for Daniel. He did a good job, quick win. So he’s ready to fight me in March, right, Daniel?” Hrgovic said.
Dubois defeated the Croatian in June 2024 to win the interim IBF belt and was subsequently upgraded to champion when Usyk vacated the title.
“I want to have a rematch with him. I want to get my old belt back and rule the division,” Dubois said.
