Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley are running it back this Saturday in London, a rematch for the WBO heavyweight championship that Dubois claimed with a stoppage win in May. This isn’t just another fight; it’s a chance to see if Wardley can pull off the upset he started building in their first explosive meeting.
The Brutal First Fight and Why the Rematch Looks Familiar
In their initial May showdown, Dubois stopped Wardley to snag the WBO heavyweight title. But don’t let that final result fool you about how wild it got. Wardley actually scored knockdowns on Dubois in both the first and third rounds, putting Dubois on the canvas early! Despite that initial success, the real story became Wardley’s sheer grit, absorbing an absolute hammering from Dubois through the rest of the fight. Dubois just kept landing crushing right hands, taking advantage of Wardley’s pretty limited offensive game. All Wardley could really do was go back to those same looping one-two combos that had led to the early knockdowns, but they just weren’t enough to withstand Dubois’s barrage.
It’s interesting how these guys came up. Wardley was a late bloomer, starting in white-collar shows at 21 before turning pro and finding serious success, even racking up some late comeback knockout wins against Justis Huni and Joseph Parker for interim titles before getting promoted to full champ right before he fought Dubois. Dubois, on the other hand, came up the traditional route through the amateurs. That classic seasoning gave him the skills and smarts to adjust mid-fight, turning him into a much more dynamic fighter after he got a taste of Wardley’s power early on. Dubois does have three knockout losses on his record, two of them to Oleksandr Usyk, but he also boasts some massive wins, including a British megafight victory over Anthony Joshua back in 2024.
Fundora Defends His Belt, But Can Dubois Avoid Another Scare?
So, how’s the rematch gonna play out? Honestly, there’s not much reason to think it’ll look drastically different from the first one. Wardley took an absolutely hellacious beating in May, and with the rematch happening so soon, he simply hasn’t had the time to recover fully or add any new tricks to his game. Dubois is just the better fighter. As long as he can steer clear of a pure knockout shot, he’s fully expected to dish out another hurting on Wardley. The pick here is Daniel Dubois via TKO7.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, another title fight is going down in Las Vegas this Saturday. Sebastian Fundora is stepping into the ring to defend his WBC junior middleweight title against Ermal Hadribeaj (that one’s at 8 p.m. ET on DAZN). Fundora’s become quite the fighter. He started his career looking like a bit of a sideshow, with his 6-foot-6 frame towering over opponents, but he had this habit of fighting toe-to-toe instead of using his ridiculous reach advantage. Things were definitely looking up for him until he suffered a shocking knockout loss to Brian Mendoza. But Fundora proved he’s a true competitor, rebounding from that KO with a split-decision win over Tim Tszyu, a victory largely chalked up to Tszyu suffering… well, we’ll see if Fundora can keep that momentum rolling.
It’s a big Saturday for boxing fans. Will Dubois close the book on Wardley, or does Wardley have one more surprise in store? Can Fundora continue his climb back to the top? Tune in, because these fights have championship glory on the line!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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