Daniel Dubois vs Fabio Wardley 2 fight preview

Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley 'Run it Back'

23 weeks removed from one of the most memorable heavyweight world title fights in recent times, Daniel Dubois (23-3) and Fabio Wardley (20-1-1) will do it all over again this Saturday night, October 17.

Londoner Dubois, who will hold home advantage at the O2 Arena, was victorious via an 11-round stoppage after he was floored within 10 seconds of the opening bell and again in the third round, but was able to regroup and come back strongly to inflict an hellacious beating on the astonishingly brave Wardley, until referee Howard Foster had belatedly seen enough in the penultimate round.

‘Triple D’ walked away with the WBO belt, his second world title after the IBF, which will once again be on the line in the highly-anticipated rematch, live on DAZN PPV.

The dethroned (elevated) world champion, Wardley, instantly announced his intention to exercise his contractual rematch clause in the aftermath of his first defeat ever in boxing, and so seeks to become a two-time world champion, despite concerns being raised about the promptness of the second clash, especially after the brutal nature of that Manchester meeting.

The rationale behind Wardley taking the rematch is clear: he’s a hard-hitting heavyweight who dropped Dubois twice and fancies that, this time, he can finish the job.

So can the Ipswich FC fan turn the tables or will Dubois close the book on this rivalry to set himself up for some potentially huge unifications in 2027 with any of the three other titleholders?

Last time out, Wardley looked to impose himself quickly and succeeded, dropping Dubois with a winging right hand that the challenger didn’t see coming, with the sound of the opening bell still echoing around the Co-op Live.

The Suffolk man repeated the trick a couple of rounds later but found himself unable to capitalise on those early breakthroughs as Dubois, who has had a reputation of unravelling when the action isn’t going his way, was impressively able to regroup and work his way back into the contest, mainly by wising up to that big right hand and negating it.

Dubois, who had previously held the IBF belt before losing it to Oleksandr Usyk via a crushing knockout defeat, went on to seize control over the contest and began to administer a systematic breakdown of Wardley, the unbeaten reigning champion showing significant facial damage as he tried in vain to hold off the ramrod jab and clubbing power shots that Dubois rained down on him incessantly. Daniel kept the pressure turned up high and the bloodied Fabio was breathing heavily.

Referee Howard Foster and the ringside doctor, who was consulted before consecutive rounds (9 and 10), but surprisingly allowed the contest to continue on both occasions, perhaps should’ve pulled the plug earlier and Wardley’s corner team, led by Ben Davison, may well reflect on not throwing the towel in as their man was the victim of a prolonged onslaught from Dubois.

Before their first bout, Wardley was priced as the narrow favourite in the build-up, but by the first bell, the two could not be separated. The form book was with Wardley, his 2025 consisted of two excellent victories over Justis Huni and Joseph Parker, the latter seeing him eventually elevated to WBO champion, whilst Dubois had not fought since that devastating KO defeat to Usyk.

Many thought that Wardley’s steel and determination as well as his get out of jail knockout power would be too much for the more skilled but occasionally vulnerable Dubois to deal with when the going got tough.

Unsurprisingly, the bookmakers have performed an about turn ahead of the rematch, Dubois priced at 1/4 with Wardley, the underdog at 11/4 which suggests the bookies see a continuation of the flow of traffic from the first fight.

As heavy a hitter as Wardley is, he is tough to completely discount in the rematch, 14/1 in points should be discarded as, unless there’s several knockdowns in his favour, it’s tough to imagine him being able to bank rounds against the Dubois jab. Realistically, he has to win by stoppage (4/1) and perhaps the best way to do this would be to attempt to gamble early and hope those old scars surface for Dubois, who shed his 'quitter' label finally.

A portion of the narrative before the first fight was around Wardley’s ability to take punches but keep coming forward in order to land shots of his own, that kind of risky approach does not lead itself to sustained success and longevity, and once that approach has failed for the first time, it may well never work again - just ask the "Juggernaut" Joe Joyce.

Greenwich man, Dubois, has had an unusual heavyweight career but despite the three defeats (Joyce, Usyk x2), he is building a heavyweight résumé to be proud of.

A two-time heavyweight champion at 29, with wins over Filip Hrgovic, Jarrell Miller and Anthony Joshua is an incredible achievement for someone so young, and he appears ready to begin his second reign as world champion as be a man more comfortable within himself-and that is ominous for his divisional rivals.

With that new found confidence and knowing he can take Wardley’s best shots and go to the trenches with him and hurt him, repeat is the way to go when assessing this match up.

At 1/4 for the outright win, it is best heading towards the round bets and I believe we will see a quicker finish than last time.

With the events of their first meeting no doubt playing on everyone’s mind, Team Wardley may be quicker to throw the towel if their man is on the receiving end once more, the third man in the ring may well jump in sooner than he would after the criticism Howard Foster received and of course, Dubois will no doubt have the scent of blood in his nostrils from the off and Wardley, will have doubts in his mind for the first time with regards to his punch resistance.

Therefore, on a night that will no doubt produce more drama, the pick is for a successful first defence of his WBO title for Daniel Dubois within the first six rounds.

Pick: Dubois by KO/TKO/DQ between 1-6