Daniel Dubois defeats Fabio Wardley to retain WBO heavyweight boxing title

Champion dominates chap British boxer successful London earlier facing a situation from IBO champion Hrgovic.

Daniel “Dynamite” Dubois has retained his WBO ⁠⁠heavyweight loop with a one-sided ⁠⁠and devastating second-round stoppage of chap British boxer Fabio Wardley successful their satellite rubric rematch successful London.

The 29-year-old champion made a storming commencement astatine the O2 Arena connected Saturday, and Wardley’s legs gave mode wrong 17 seconds of the opening doorbell arsenic Dubois floored him with a consecutive close punch.

Wardley, 31, bushed the number and could person been stopped astatine the extremity of the archetypal circular erstwhile helium took a further brutal pounding connected the ropes but ⁠⁠was saved by the bell.

Dubois dominated Wardley during the WBO satellite heavyweight rubric combat [John Sibley/Reuters]

There was nary flight from the onslaught of blows successful the 2nd circular arsenic Dubois picked up wherever helium near disconnected and Wardley took punch aft punch until the towel was thrown successful and referee Steve Gray brought the combat to a close.

“Fabio is simply a large warrior, coming successful for a 2nd time, but it was my clip and my era,” said “Triple D”, ne'er ‌‌a antheral for agelong speeches. “I had my intentions, atrocious intentions, from the beginning.

“Our backmost was against the partition the archetypal time. This time, we conscionable had to spell retired determination and amusement that we mean business, and that’s what we did tonight.”

Dubois dealt Wardley his archetypal decision arsenic a nonrecreational successful May erstwhile helium came backmost from 2 knockdowns, the archetypal aft 16 seconds, to instrumentality the rubric successful the 11th circular of a thunderous and bloody clash successful Manchester.

Dubois knocked down Wardley wrong the archetypal 17 seconds of the combat [John Sibley/Reuters]

Wardley, promoted to WBO champion successful November aft Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title, was ⁠⁠acclaimed for his courageousness and refusal to springiness successful the archetypal clip around, but connected Saturday, helium ⁠⁠looked similar a ammunition of the antheral seen successful Manchester.

He present has a grounds of 20 wins and 2 defeats with Dubois connected 24 wins with 3 defeats.

“I’ve ever thrown myself successful with the champion competitors retired there, the toughest, the biggest, hardest, meanest guys around. There’s nary shame successful investigating yourself against the best,” helium said.

“Daniel’s ⁠⁠a testament to coming up abbreviated and coming again. I’ll beryllium looking to bash the nonstop aforesaid thing.

“Boxing is simply a crippled of good margins. It tin beryllium done and implicit successful a ⁠⁠round oregon two, oregon it tin spell into a large aged warfare similar it ⁠⁠was past time.”

The lucifer was ended successful the 2nd circular and Dubois declared the champion [John Sibley/Reuters]

Dubois was antecedently the IBF champion, losing the rubric to Usyk successful London successful July past twelvemonth earlier coming backmost to instrumentality the WBO loop from Wardley.

Croatian Filip Hrgovic, the IBF champion aft beating the United Kingdom’s Moses Itauma successful August, was ringside connected Saturday and challenged Dubois to a combat with some belts ‌‌on the line.

“It was an casual nighttime for Daniel. He did a bully job, speedy win. So he’s acceptable to combat maine successful March, right, Daniel?” Hrgovic said earlier promoter Frank Warren suggested helium mightiness person to woody with different candidates first.

Dubois bushed ‌‌the ‌‌Croatian successful June 2024 to instrumentality the interim IBF loop and was past upgraded to champion erstwhile Usyk vacated his title.

“I privation to person a rematch with him. I privation to get my aged loop backmost and regularisation the division,” Dubois said.

IBF champion Filip Hrgovic holds his loop successful the ringing aft the combat [John Sibley/Reuters]