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Fabio Wardley will exercise his rematch clause for a second fight against Daniel Dubois after suffering an 11th-round stoppage loss in their WBO heavyweight title fight last Saturday in Manchester.

Wardley was stopped by Dubois in the 11th round last Saturday in Manchester.

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Last Updated on 2026/05/15 at 10:37 AM

Terence Crawford faced a selection of top-level competitors throughout his career, but there was one man whom trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre identified as a genuine threat to his charge’s supremacy.

As a three-division undisputed champion, it is fair to say that ‘Bud’ never swerved a formidable challenge, even if it meant putting himself at a considerable disadvantage.

His showdown with Canelo Alvarez, for instance, saw the extraordinary technician move up two weight classes and dethrone the Mexican with a remarkable unanimous decision victory last September.

Equally, many felt Crawford was a clear underdog ahead of his 2023 clash with Errol Spence Jr, only for him to score a ruthless ninth-round finish to unify all four major welterweight titles.

According to long-time head coach ‘BoMac’, though, Crawford came closest to suffering his only professional defeat in 2019, six years before retiring from the sport.

Back then, the American was defending his WBO welterweight title against Egidijus Kavaliauskas, otherwise known as ‘Mean Machine’, who was not only unbeaten but also boasted an impressive knockout-to-win ratio.

Speaking with Front Page Podcast, McIntyre credits Kavaliauskas for forcing Crawford to change his tack after round three, when ‘Bud’ climbed off the canvas following what was ruled a no-knockdown.

“That motherf**ker just kept coming and coming. He wouldn’t stop. The first couple of rounds, he just had Bud’s number, because he would punch before Bud and would punch after Bud.

“It was like, ‘Damn, dog – you [Crawford] need to pick it up’.”

In the end, Crawford managed to secure a ninth-round finish over Kavaliauskas, but was made to dive deep into his tool bag to emerge triumphant. The pound-for-pound star later said ‘Mean Machine’ was one of the hardest punchers he faced.

Daniel Dubois now knows who he will make the first defence of his WBO heavyweight title against after his win over Fabio Wardley.

Dubois and Wardley were involved in one of the best heavyweight fights of recent memory last weekend when they met at the Co-Op Live in Manchester.

It was a dramatic start to the contest, as Wardley dropped his rival after just 10 seconds before Dubois was then knocked down again in the third round.

Dubois then got a foothold in the bout and began to take over as it progressed, landing a number of big shots on Wardley that left the champion a bloodied mess, with concerns that the fight needed to be stopped a lot sooner than it was.

In the end, Dubois claimed the 11th round stoppage victory to secure the WBO heavyweight title, and it didn’t take long for attention to turn to what could be next for both men.

Promoter Frank Warren confirmed that a rematch clause was in place, but Dubois has also been linked to a fight against rising star Moses Itauma if Wardley chose a different path.

A decision has now been made, after it was revealed by Sky Sports that Wardley has activated his rematch clause, with the Ipswich man making his intentions clear ahead of the second meeting.

“The boxing world knows my character, and Saturday night proved that without a shred of doubt.

“It was a fight for the ages, but I made some mistakes that I will rectify in the rematch. Congratulations to Daniel, but I’m coming for you… and my belt!”

The two men are now set to do battle once again later this year, and if their rematch is anything like their first fight, then fans will once again be in for a treat.

Conor Benn has been given a “fair warning” to “stay away from” a former world champion, who believes the 29-year-old is well beneath his level.

‘The Destroyer’ remained in the win column last month, comfortably outpointing Regis Prograis on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov.

This followed his middleweight rematch with Chris Eubank Jr in November, when Benn exacted his revenge with a unanimous decision victory after losing their first encounter by the same verdict.

The Brit then fought Prograis, who later announced his retirement, at a catchweight of 150lbs, dominating their 10-round contest in his first outing since signing with Zuffa Boxing.

As the WBC’s highest-ranked contender at 147lbs, Benn is now targeting a shot at world welterweight champion Ryan Garcia, and has named the likes of Devin Haney, Shakur Stevenson and Rolando Romero as other US fighters he aims to beat.

Benn and Garcia are likely to collide later this year, but regardless of whether their fight materialises, the Brit has been urged to steer clear of one particular fighter.

While campaigning at 140lbs, Keyshawn Davis has not ruled out a move up in weight for the right opportunity, especially if it involves an encounter with Benn.

At the same time, though, the 27-year-old has told several media outlets, including Fight Hype, that it would be in Benn’s best interest to leave him alone.

“Conor Benn – you better stay away from me. I’m just giving you a fair warning – you better stay away from me. Leave me alone if you wanna stay in that position.”

After dethroning Denys Berinchyk for the WBO lightweight title in February 2025, Davis returned to action earlier this year and stopped Jamaine Ortiz in round 12.

‘The Businessman’ is now gearing up for a rematch with Nahir Albright this weekend, hoping to prove himself as one of the flagship operators at super-lightweight before an eventual move up.

Oleksandr Usyk is reportedly uninterested in a trilogy bout with one of his former foes, but should nonetheless have plenty of options to consider after his next outing.

The 39-year-old will face Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on May 23, making a full defence of his WBC heavyweight title at Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza.

Should he suffer a first professional defeat, as very few expect him to, then Usyk would lose his WBC strap to Verhoeven and could be stripped of his WBA and IBF world titles.

The most likely outcome, however, is that the Ukrainian will retain all three belts and be ordered to face WBC ‘interim’ champion Agit Kabayel.

Either way, Kabayel is set to fight for the full green and gold title later this year, whether it is against Usyk or the next available contender.

For Usyk, though, it would make far more sense to face the unbeaten German than WBO champion Daniel Dubois, who he has already stopped on two separate occasions.

While speaking on Inside The Ring, Mike Coppinger explained that, despite offering him the chance to become a four-time undisputed champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the masterful southpaw has zero interest in a trilogy showdown with Dubois.

“I spoke to Usyk’s advisor, Sergey Lapin. You don’t have to worry about a Dubois fight. There’s not any interest there – for good reason.”

As mentioned, Usyk has already become a three-time undisputed champion while having twice defeated Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dubois.

It is therefore unsurprising that he feels no urge to again face ‘Dynamite’, who became a two-time world champion by stopping Fabio Wardley in round 11 last Saturday.

Filip Hrgovic returns to the ring this weekend, as he takes on the fifth British opponent of his career in Dave Allen.

The Croatian looks to extend his professional record to 20-1 with a win over Allen in Doncaster, and he is heavy favourite to do so. A win on Saturday would give Hrgovic a fourth victory over UK heavyweights, having beaten Tom Little, Joe Joyce, and David Adeleye, but fallen short against Daniel Dubois.

Aside from the Dubois defeat, which was stopped on cuts in the eighth round, Hrgovic has looked close to losing on two occasions – a controversial points win over Zhilei Zhang, and a dramatic eighth round against Adeleye in which the Brit was dropped but recovered to put ‘El Animal’ on seriously shaky legs.

Speaking to DAZN ahead of his return, Hrgovic reflected on the ‘toughest round of his career’ against Adeleye, confirming that the Brit is the hardest hitter he has faced so far.

“He gave me the hardest punch that I ever received in my career. He punches harder than Zhang, Dubois, than anyone I faced … He’s got power. He doesn’t throw a lot, but he definitely has a strong punch.”

Most predict that Hrgovic’s durability will pose problems for Allen, who also believes he possesses an ‘iron chin’. If the Croatian comes through with the win and is injury-free, it is this resilience that may well land him a fight with young sensation Moses Itauma.

Itauma has made no secret that he wants to face Hrgovic, and it would be the clear toughest assignment of his impressive career so far. Talk of the match-up has intensified this week, seemingly leaving ‘The White Rhino’ Allen as the only man who can upset the plans.

As for Adeleye, he does not currently have his next fight booked but is consistently pushing for a high-level return, even calling out the new WBO champion, Dubois.

After Saturday’s heavyweight classic, one of the key talking points has been whether Fabio Wardley’s corner should have pulled their man out sooner, and former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew has shared his view on the matter.

Wardley was defending his WBO heavyweight title against Daniel Dubois, but despite scoring two early knockdowns, from round seven onwards, it soon became clear that the champion was fading.

With a fit and firing Dubois stood opposite him, the once back-and-forth battle slowly became one-sided, and after two checks from the doctor and the onslaught continuing, referee Howard Foster eventually intervened in round 11.

Whilst many viewers questioned whether trainer Ben Davison should have saved Wardley from needless punishment, Bellew has defended the trainer whilst talking on the Fight Your Corner podcast.

“I am not like many others, I don’t think that it should have been stopped earlier. I think that the referee did a brilliant job. I don’t think that the towel should have been in earlier, for the simple reason that Fabio Wardley has shown, on numerous occasions now, to never rule him out of a fight. 

“Even when he is miles behind, even when he has been hurt in a fight, he can pull it out of the bag at any moment and for that alone, that is why he should have been allowed to continue. 

“This is the reason why the likes of Arturo Gatti were allowed to continue against the likes of Micky Ward. When his neck is against the ropes and he is being hit consistently in the face and Frank Cappuccino [referee] lets it go on, it is because of the history that he has. That is why they let that fight continue and they were right to, in my opinion.”

“You are never going to get them truly magical fights, unless you let carnage unfold.”

Following a precautionary check at a nearby hospital, it was confirmed that Wardley suffered no major injuries in the bout. The Ipswich fan-favourite could now trigger his rematch clause and attempt to avenge the first defeat of his professional career to become a two-time heavyweight ruler.

A world-ranked heavyweight contender has been mooted as an opponent for Moses Itauma, who is set to headline a Queensberry Promotions card on August 8.

The 21-year-old comes off a fifth-round stoppage victory over Jermaine Franklin in March, cementing his No.1 ranking with two of the four major sanctioning bodies.

As the WBO’s leading contender, he could soon earn his shot at Daniel Dubois, whose brutal 11th-round stoppage of Fabio Wardley saw him become a two-time world champion last Saturday.

Alternatively, Itauma could target Murat Gassiev, the WBA ‘regular’ champion, and place himself in a stronger position to fight for the full title, which is currently held by Oleksandr Usyk.

Instead of Dubois or Gassiev, though, the leading candidate to collide with Itauma at London’s O2 Arena appears to be Filip Hrgovic.

Shortly after defeating Franklin, the heavyweight prodigy said he had hoped it would be Hrgovic standing in the opposite corner – a call out he has been making since summer 2025 – and now it seems his wish could soon come true.

The Croatian must first get past Dave Allen, his next opponent, as the pair are gearing up to headline a Queensberry show in Doncaster tomorrow evening.

Sources have reportedly informed DAZN, that Hrgovic will be considered as an opponent for Itauma if he manages to come through Allen unscathed. Indeed, the man himself previously said that Itauma is one of a few big names in his contract for future bouts.

The 33-year-old comes off back-to-back points victories over David Adeleye and Joe Joyce, which followed his eighth-round stoppage defeat to Dubois in June 2024.

He has also previously outpointed Zhilei Zhang, albeit in controversial fashion, in 2022, while Itauma is yet to test himself against a genuine world-class operator such as Hrgovic.

After becoming a two-time world champion, Daniel Dubois is being linked to a clash with 21-year-old phenomenon Moses Itauma, and Carl Froch has shared his thoughts on the potential fight.

Dubois became the IBF world champion almost two years ago, making one defence in a savage beatdown of Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium, before ‘DDD’ then lost the title to Oleksandr Usyk.

Last weekend, Dubois successfully regained his world title status after defeating Fabio Wardley, but fight fans are already discussing what could come next for the 28-year-old, after he laid out his intentions of a ‘long reign’ during the aftermath of his win.

One of those options looks to be fellow Queensberry fighter Moses Itauma, and super-middleweight legend Froch told his YouTube channel that a fight between those two could be telling for the youngster.

“He [Dubois] is big, strong, nice solid jab, a tidy fighter. He can take a punch when he has to, but he does choose to go down every now and then, there is almost a question mark around his desire and his heart and whether or not he has got that grit.

“So, it is difficult say whether he can reign, but he is a two-time world champ and now he is WBO world champ, so he has got Moses Itauma knocking on the door. Moses Itauma is mandatory for the WBO, so maybe we will find something out there.

“We are going to find something out about Itauma because, if this fight gets made, it will be the first time that he has been in with someone who can actually punch really hard and is very tidy.”

Pre-fight, Froch had said confidently he believes Itauma beats both Dubois and Wardley, however the nature of the champion’s performance has clearly forced a re-evaluation.

Itauma has not yet been officially named as the WBO’s mandatory challenger, but president Gustavo Olivieri has made the suggestion to the rankings committee and the instalment is currently pending approval.

Whether or not that leads to the Dubois fight remains to be seen, as Itauma may instead pursue another of the major titles with a view to unifying against Dubois further down the line. He returns on August 8 with an opponent yet to be named.

Richard Torrez Jr. says Frank Sanchez remains a dangerous opponent ahead of their IBF heavyweight eliminator on May 23 in Egypt, but he believes pressure and pace can eventually break Sanchez down.

Torrez discussed Sanchez during an interview this week before their fight on the “Glory in Giza” card near the Pyramids of Giza.

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Last Updated on 2026/05/15 at 2:03 AM