Daniel Dubois vs. Fabio Wardley results: ‘Dynamite’ scores TKO in Fight of the Year contender

Daniel Dubois is world heavyweight champion once again after stopping Fabio Wardley in the 11th round of their fight on Saturday to capture the WBO title. Dubois not only won the belt, but he climbed off the canvas twice to do so in a fight that will likely be in Fight of the Year conversations come December.

Dubois hit the canvas 10 seconds into the bout when a Wardley right hand connected behind Dubois’ ear. Dubois came off the deck and continued to bring pressure and heavy shots as he attempted to walk down Wardley, leading to a clear second round for Dubois.

“Flash knockdown,” Dubois said after the fight of the quick knockdown. “I had to get back up and come back harder, man. I’m a warrior.”

Wardley’s right hand struck again in the third round, coming behind a jab and forcing Dubois to stumble before taking a knee for another count from the referee. Again, Dubois rose to his feet, and again, he shifted into another gear as he waded through Wardley’s wide power punches to land thudding shots of his own.

From Round 4 onward, the momentum was clearly with Dubois as Wardley was throwing maximum effort into every shot, which was causing him to tire, while Dubois was landing with more regularity.

Despite Dubois’ momentum, Wardley remained dangerous, finding moments between Dubois’ onslaught to land heavy power shots of his own.

Those big moments for Wardley came less often as the rounds ticked by, and he was surviving on sheer, unbelievable toughness as Dubois’ jab and right hand connected over and over.

Sporting a nasty cut on the bridge of his nose and massive swelling around his eye, Wardley somehow kept going as the ringside doctor twice allowed him to continue fighting.

Finally, after another big shot from Dubois in Round 11, the referee, whose shirt was soaked in Wardley’s blood, jumped in to call a halt to the bout with Wardley never suffering a knockdown but clearly in bad shape.

“It was a war. Thank you, Fabio, for that. Thank you,” Dubois said after the fight. “I had to pull out the bag, rely on it and use all my skills. What a great fight. What a great battle, man, but I’m number one again.” 

Dubois became champion for the second time in his career, having previously been promoted from interim IBF champ to full champ, successfully defending the title against Anthony Joshua and then losing the belt in an undisputed championship bout with Oleksandr Usyk, Dubois’ second career knockout loss to Usyk.

After Saturday’s fight with Wardley, promoter Frank Warren confirmed there was a rematch clause in the contract, so Dubois vs. Wardley 2 could be coming in the future, though Usyk had previously said he’d be happy to fight Saturday’s winner.