LONDON — Daniel Dubois recovered from two early knockdowns to win a second WBO heavyweight title with an 11th-round stoppage of Fabio Wardley in a brutal all-British battle in Manchester.
Victory meant the 28-year-old deprived World Boxing Organisation champion Wardley of his belt, with Dubois having lost the International Boxing Federation version of the title to unified champion Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley in July last year.
Wardley dropped Dubois to the canvas within barely 10 seconds of the opening bell at the Co-Op Live arena, AFP reported.
And in the third round Wardley, making his maiden title defence, landed a huge overhand right on Dubois, who took a knee before beating the count again.
But from then on Dubois connected with a series of crushing blows to leave Wardley’s face a bloody mess and referee Howard Foster could easily have stopped the fight long before the 11th round of a scheduled 12.
Dubois, who now has a professional record of 23 wins and three defeats, with 21 knockouts, had been angered by an apparently casual comment made by Wardley in a pre-fight interview.
Wardley (21-0-1,19 KOs) said Dubois would be a “bin man” if the London heavyweight was not a boxer.
That led Dubois to respond by saying: “Well, I am going to take out the trash. I am the dustman, he is the trash, mate. I’ll take out the trash.”
Yet he was full of respect for Wardley following the gruelling bout, with Dubois telling broadcaster DAZN, “It was a war, we went through the sticky moments. Thank you, Fabio, for that, thank you. I know I’ve got heart, bundles of heart. I’m a warrior in there.”
Dubois added: “I had to pull it out the bag and rely on it and use all of my skills. What a great fight, what a great battle. But, I’m No 1 again.
“He (Wardley) is a durable guy, durable warrior, great warrior. Thank you for a great fight, man. It was an honour to be in the ring with you,” he said before veteran promoter Frank Warren confirmed there was a rematch clause in the contract.
Dubois desperately needed a victory following a crushing defeat by Usyk – a loss made worse after a video surfaced showing a reported “gathering” at his house just hours before the bout.
