Daniel Dubois retains WBO world title with brutal second-round stoppage

Daniel Dubois retained his WBO world heavyweight title with a brutal second-round stoppage of Fabio Wardley as their fight of the year rematch at The O2 Arena ended in a furious assault from the champion.

There were 39 seconds of the round left when referee Steve Gray waved the off the contest at the same time as the towel was thrown into the ring by Wardley’s trainer Ben Davison.

Resuming hostilities just five months after their first encounter, Dubois launched an all-out assault from the first bell and was rewarded with a destructive victory that issued a statement to his rivals in the division.

The Londoner’s first defence of the title he seized from Wardley in May positions him for unification fights as well as the possibility of facing the winner of Tyson Fury’s bout against Anthony Joshua on December 11.

And on this evidence he will be favourite to unify the heavyweight belts following a display of ferocious punching power that left Wardley in survival mode right from the start.

Wardley had vowed to make the adjustments needed to avenge the only defeat of his career, but instead the former white-collar boxer was outclassed as his lack of experience caught up with him.

Dubois had oozed confidence all week and he wasted no time marching into the ring, dispensing with the stage theatrics to get the fight started as soon as possible.

And in a dramatic reversal of the first fight, he floored Wardley just seconds into the contest following a barrage of shots that saw a savage right hand do the telling damage.

A one-sided opening round continued with Wardley coming under ferocious attack and it ended with him under pressure against the ropes while Davison hovered in the corner ready to throw in the towel.

Images of the battering Wardley took in the later rounds in May came flooding back as he took more punishment in the second and with hardly any shots coming back in response, Gray and Davison intervened.

Despite taking a fearful battering in the first meeting including extensive damage to his blood-soaked nose, Wardley immediately activated the rematch clause.

He felt that by flooring Dubois during the first and third rounds in Manchester even though he had not connected cleanly, he could force victory by mixing his power with a more nuanced approach.

By rising from the canvas twice, meanwhile, Dubois had silenced questions over his mental resilience that first emerged when he was accused of “quitting” against Joe Joyce in 2020.

He entered the rematch as odds-on favourite to claim a 27th professional win and the stage was set for another slugfest between two of the division’s most explosive punchers, but it never materialised as the champion ended his rivalry with Wardley in chilling fashion.