Daniel Dubois has a short memory — or a very selective one.
Sitting across from Fabio Wardley in their talkSPORT face-to-face, the WBO heavyweight champion dismissed the challenger who floored him twice in their first fight, saying Wardley “punches like a baby” and insisting he felt nothing from the shots that put him on the canvas. He promised to make the rematch a much worse night for Wardley than the first war was.
Video credit: talkSPORT Boxing.
Let’s rewind the tape Dubois is talking past. When they met in Manchester on May 9, Wardley detonated a right hand inside the first ten seconds and dropped the champion, then put him down again in the third round. At that point the fight — and the belt — were there for Wardley’s taking. Dubois survived, steadied himself, and ground his way back to stop Wardley in the eleventh round of a Fight of the Year contender. It was a champion’s comeback. It was not a man feeling nothing.
So why talk like this now? Because heavyweight rematches are sold on confidence, and Dubois knows the story of the first fight cuts both ways. Yes, he won. But he also knows the whole sport saw him on the floor twice — and Wardley, who activated the rematch clause straight away, only needs to finish what he started. Wardley’s case writes itself: he hurt the champion early once, and five months is a long time to drill the follow-up.
Credit where it’s due to both men, though. This is a real fight between two fighters who stand on business — Wardley picked Dubois as a voluntary defense in the first place, lost a war, and ran straight to the rematch clause instead of a rebuild. Dubois, for his part, didn’t shop for a softer defense. He took the man who dropped him, again, at The O2 Arena in London this Saturday, October 17, live on DAZN PPV.
Talk is cheap on Thursday. On Saturday, we find out whether those punches really felt like nothing — or whether Dubois just hopes Wardley believes it.
