Dubois defeats Wardley in short order to retain WBO heavyweight title

LONDON, Oct 17 : 'Dynamite' Daniel Dubois retained his WBO heavyweight belt with a one-sided and devastating second-round stoppage of fellow Briton Fabio Wardley in their world title rematch on Saturday.

The 29-year-old champion made a storming start at London's O2 Arena and Wardley's legs went from under him for a count within 17 seconds of the opening bell as Dubois floored him with a straight right.

Wardley, 31, beat the count and could have been stopped at the end of the first round when he took a further brutal pounding on the ropes but was saved by the bell. 

There was no escape from the onslaught of blows in the second with Dubois picking up where he left off and Wardley taking punch after punch until the towel was thrown in and referee Steve Gray brought the fight to a close.

"Fabio is a great warrior, coming in for a second time, but it was my time and my era," said 'Triple D', never a man for long speeches. "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."

HRGOVIC READY TO PUT HIS TITLE ON THE LINE

Dubois dealt Wardley his first defeat as a professional when he came back from two knockdowns, the first after 16 seconds, to take the title in the 11th round of a thunderous and bloody clash in Manchester last May.

Wardley, promoted to WBO champion last November after Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title, was acclaimed for his courage and refusal to give in first time around but on Saturday he looked a shell of the man seen in Manchester.

He now has a 20-2-1 record with Dubois on 24 wins with three defeats.

"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," he 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 was previously the IBF champion, losing it to Usyk in London in July last year before coming back to take the WBO belt from Wardley.

Croatian Filip Hrgovic, the IBF champion after beating Britain's Moses Itauma in August, was ringside on Saturday and challenged Dubois to a fight with both belts on the line.

"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?," said Hrgovic, before promoter Frank Warren suggested he might have to deal with other candidates first.

Dubois beat the Croatian in June 2024 to take the interim IBF belt and was then upgraded to champion when Usyk vacated his title.

"I want to have a rematch with him, I want to get my old belt back and rule the division," said Dubois.