Daniel Dubois vs. Fabio Wardley II | DAZN - 17 October 2026

[Heldenjaeger]

Launch press conference right now. Dubois just looks and sounds so.... unintelligent. Hard to watch.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Launch press conference

[Ruthless-RKO]

Wardley uses Clarke KO as proof he can adjust in Dubois rematch

Those concerned about his health want Fabio Wardley to take more time off between his two fights with Daniel Dubois.

Wardley absorbed an alarming amount of punishment during his 11th-round, technical-knockout loss to Dubois on May 9 at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. The brutality Wardley experienced in that spectacular slugfest didn’t deter the former WBO heavyweight champ from exercising his contractual right to an immediate rematch, which was officially announced by allegedly’s Queensberry Promotions on Saturday night for October 17 at O2 Arena in London.

The 31-year-old Wardley explained later Saturday night that the result of the first rematch of his career is the primary reason he is so confident he’ll come back just five months later to defeat Dubois. Wardley and British rival Frazer Clarke brawled to a 12-round split draw in March 2024, but Wardley stopped Clarke in the first round of their immediate rematch 6½ months later.

“I think that’s what’s most comfortable about this for me, is that I’ve done it before,” Wardley told DAZN’s broadcast team during a “Beyond The Bell” segment after Filip Hrgovic’s ninth-round TKO of Moses Itauma at O2 Arena. “I’ve had the 12-round war, and then gone into the fight again, made the adjustments and it’s been a completely different fight. So, I’ve already got the proven evidence, experience of me not getting it particularly right on the night.

“Obviously, with the Frazer I fight, it was a draw. With the Daniel fight, it was a loss, OK. But I still just didn’t get it right on the night. But I’ve proven to everyone and myself that I can go home, sit down, do the homework, adjust my game plan and come out on top.”

Wardley, of Ipswich, England, also draws confidence from dropping Dubois once apiece in the first and third rounds of their “Fight of the Year” candidate.

London’s Dubois, The Ring’s No. 1 contender for Oleksandr Usyk’s crown, recovered from those two knockdowns to batter the fourth-rated Wardley. Dubois, 28, led the previously unbeaten belt-holder by the same score on all three cards, 96-92, when referee Howard Foster halted their scheduled 12-round title fight 28 seconds into the 11th.

DAZN will stream the rematch between Dubois (23-3, 22 KOs) and Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KOs) on pay-per-view and to subscribers of its Ultimate plan, which costs £24.99 per month in the United Kingdom and $49.99 in the United States.

[MightyWarrior]

Davison is 3-0 in genuine rematches with the same fighter: Wood avenged Lara, Wardley destroyed Clarke and Wood beat Warrington again. Dubois, meanwhile, is 0-1 in rematches — Usyk stopped him four rounds earlier the second time, Dubois wasn't even competitive— and Don Charles is 1-3 in rematches where he also trained the first fight.

Yeah that’s a good statistic, except for the small problem where you have just let your fighter get almost killed in his last fight.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Wardley Says His Own Excitement Undid Him Against Dubois

Fabio Wardley says the two knockdowns that looked like his path to victory against Daniel Dubois were actually what cost him the fight, admitting the early success made him careless rather than clinical.

“I felt a bit too comfortable maybe with the really early knockdown, then followed by another one in the third,” Wardley said at the rematch kick off press conference. “I thought this is near on a foregone conclusion. I’ve done it once, I’ve done it twice, I can get him out of there. I was a victim of my own success in them early stages. I just got trigger-happy, got carried away with trying to launch that right hand. In the moments when I did have him hurt, I don’t actually think I jumped on him enough.”

The mistake wasn’t underworking, it was becoming predictable. Wardley stopped disguising his right hand and started loading up from too far away, letting Dubois settle behind his jab and control the distance instead.

For the rematch, working the body more and varying his hook could give Dubois new problems to solve rather than one obvious shot to defend against. Pacing matters just as much. An early knockdown doesn’t demand an immediate all-out assault over 12 scheduled rounds, and burning through energy chasing a dramatic finish left Wardley with less in the tank once Dubois adjusted.

The tight turnaround adds pressure of its own. Wardley absorbed real punishment before the 11th-round stoppage and went straight into another demanding camp without an interim fight to reset. He’s dismissing any suggestion that matters. “Absolutely zero excuses,” he said, for either the first loss or the fight ahead.