Daniel Dubois needed barely two rounds to end his heavyweight rivalry with Fabio Wardley on Saturday night, storming to a second-round stoppage at London’s O2 Arena to keep hold of the WBO world heavyweight title in their rematch.
FAKTA
- Daniel Dubois stopped Fabio Wardley by second-round technical knockout at The O2 Arena in London on Saturday, October 17, 2026, retaining the WBO heavyweight title.
- Wardley was floored by a straight right inside the first 20 seconds; his corner threw in the towel in round two as Dubois piled on the pressure.
- Dubois improved his record to 24 wins, 3 defeats, with 23 knockouts; Wardley dropped to 20-2-1.
- The champion has called for a unification fight with IBF title holder Filip Hrgovic next.
- Wardley was placed on an automatic medical suspension after the stoppage, a routine health measure in boxing.
Dubois Wardley WBO heavyweight title settled in a blitz
There was barely time to settle into seats before the champion made his statement. Dubois charged across the ring at the first bell and landed a straight right that sent Wardley to the canvas within 17 seconds, forcing the referee to administer a standing count. The 31-year-old challenger beat the count and survived a furious follow-up attack on the ropes, rescued only by the bell at the end of the first round.
There was no escape in the second. Dubois picked up exactly where he had left off, pinning Wardley into a corner and unloading punch after punch with both hands. With his fighter taking unanswered blows, Wardley’s corner threw in the towel and referee Steve Gray waved the contest off at 2 minutes 21 seconds of the round. The arena, packed with British fight fans, rose to acclaim a ruthless champion’s performance.
“Fabio is a great warrior, coming in for a second time, but it was my time and my era,” Dubois said after the win. “I had bad intentions from the beginning.”
A rivalry five months in the making
The rematch was five months in the making and could hardly have been more different from the first meeting. When the two Britons clashed in Manchester in May, Wardley twice put Dubois down in the early rounds before the champion roared back to claim an 11th-round stoppage and seize the WBO belt. Wardley had been elevated to WBO champion the previous November after Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title, and his courage in defeat that night earned him an immediate rematch.
This time there was no drama, only dominance. Wardley, who had promised to right the wrongs of Manchester, looked a shadow of the fighter who had pushed Dubois so hard in May, unable to find any rhythm as the champion refused to give him room to breathe. Former cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew, who had tipped Wardley to win inside six rounds, held his hands up afterwards, hailing the performance as a “demolition” on social media.
On the undercard at the O2, Louie O’Doherty and Michael Gomez Jr. fought to a majority draw over 12 rounds, while Bakhodir Jalolov claimed a unanimous decision win and Adam Olaniyan and Zayn Ahmed both recorded second-round stoppages.
What comes next for the champion
Dubois was quick to name his next target: IBF champion Filip Hrgovic, in a unification bout that would move him one step closer to becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion. The two have history — Dubois beat Hrgovic in June 2024 — and Hrgovic himself has already publicly challenged the WBO king to settle it again with both belts on the line.
At 29, with 23 knockouts from 27 fights, Dubois has now defended the WBO crown in emphatic fashion and sent a warning to every contender in a division still searching for its next undisputed ruler. For Wardley, the immediate future is rest and recovery under the sport’s standard medical suspension before any decision is made about the next chapter of his career.
