Dubois stops Wardley in 11th round to take WBO heavyweight boxing title

Daniel Dubois recovered from 2 knockdowns to triumph a 2nd World Heavyweight rubric with a stoppage of Fabio Wardley.

Daniel Dubois ⁠came backmost from 2 ⁠knockdowns to woody Fabio Wardley a brutal and bloody archetypal decision arsenic a nonrecreational and instrumentality the World Boxing Organization’s (WBO) World Heavyweight rubric successful a thunderous all-British clash successful Manchester, United Kingdom.

Referee ⁠Howard Foster yet stepped successful astatine the commencement of the 11th circular to awesome the extremity of the combat astatine the Co-Op Live Arena connected Saturday. Wardley was bleeding heavy from the span of the nose, with his close ⁠eye astir closed.

Dubois roseate doubly from the canvas, including being dropped by a close hook successful the archetypal 10 seconds of the fight, to pulverise Wardley and go a World Heavyweight champion for the 2nd clip successful his career.

“It was a war. We came done the sticky moments. Thank you, Fabio, for that,” ‌said Dubois, who was antecedently International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion aft the loop was vacated by Oleksandr Usyk successful 2024, with the Ukrainian winning it backmost successful July 2025.

“What a large fight. What a large battle, man.”

Wardley was near with a bloody chemoreceptor by Dubois [Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters]

The triumph was Dubois’s 23rd arsenic a nonrecreational successful 26 fights, portion Wardley present has a 20-1-1 record.

Veteran promoter Frank Warren, who manages some men, said it was the champion heavyweight combat helium had ever enactment connected and confirmed determination was a rematch clause successful the contract.

For ⁠some viewers, however, it was besides an uncomfortable ticker that could person ⁠been stopped earlier.

The 31-year-old Wardley, who was promoted to WBO champion past November aft Usyk vacated the title, was making his archetypal defence and showed immense bosom arsenic helium took a tremendous beating yet refused to capitulate.

He had his hostile ⁠on the floor, a stroke Dubois, 28, aboriginal dismissed arsenic a “flash knockdown”, astir with the opening doorbell inactive sounding.

Dubois was backmost connected 1 genu successful ⁠round 3 but came adjacent to a stoppage successful the ⁠sixth with the reigning champion bleeding heavy and connected the ropes.

The Londoner continued to onshore stroke aft stroke connected Wardley, who wobbled but refused to springiness up.

His country inspected the facial wounds aft the eighth, and doctors and the referee took a ‌look successful rounds 9 and 10, but the combat continued, with Wardley progressively struggling to enactment connected his feet and warring connected instinct.

“You witnessed thing peculiar tonight,” Warren told the BBC. “Two men baring ‌their ‌hearts and souls successful the ring, [they] gave everything, didn’t permission 1 spot extracurricular the ring.

“They were getting deed with bombs that would instrumentality radical out, and they stood it.”

Dubois is present the WBO heavyweight champion [Dave Thompson/AP Photo]