MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Daniel Dubois showed up late, got knocked down early and still beat Fabio Wardley to become a two-time heavyweight champion on Saturday.
Dubois stopped Wardley in the 11th round to win the WBO heavyweight title at the Co-op Live arena after reportedly being delayed by traffic on his arrival.
Wardley dropped Dubois (23-3, 22 KOs) just 10 seconds into the bout with an overhand right, and again in the third round, but the former IBF champion rebounded both times and dominated from there by landing heavy rights that produced swelling and bleeding on Wardley's face.
"I know I've got heart, bundles of heart, I'm a warrior in there," said Dubois, whose resolve had been questioned in the past. “What a great fight, what a great battle. I'm No. 1 again.”
Wardley absorbed blow after blow without going down before referee Howard Foster halted the bout early in the 11th.
It’s the first professional loss for Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KOs). He was making his first title defense.
“He's a durable guy... a great warrior," Dubois said. "It was an honor to be in the ring with him.”
Dubois lost his IBF belt to Oleksandr Usyk via a fifth-round knockout at Wembley Stadium last July. It was his second loss to Usyk.
Dubois could be on a collision course with rising star Moses Itauma, who was ringside. WBO president Gustavo Olivieri has said after Itauma’s demolition of Jermaine Franklin he’ll recommend the British southpaw become the WBO mandatory challenger.
Frank Warren, the promoter for both Dubois and Wardley, said in the ring, however, that there's a rematch clause in the contract.
Usyk holds the WBA, WBC and IBF belts. The 39-year-old Ukrainian’s next bout is against former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
London light heavyweight Zak Chelli scored a big upset by stopping Cuban southpaw David Morrell in the 10th round. Chelli (17-3-1, 9 KOs) called out WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez, who also holds titles at cruiserweight. Morrell (12-2, 9 KOs) had gone the distance with Benavidez last year, losing on points after 12 rounds.
Jack Rafferty (27-0-1, 18 KOs) made a successful welterweight debut against 37-year-old Ekow Essuman (22-3, 8 KOs), whose corner retired their fighter after six rounds.
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Join us for an evening of piano artistry with Sofya Gulyak 🎹, presented by Gradus ad Parnas… Read moreSofya Gulyak piano recital
In honor of May Mental Health Awareness Month, SafeSpace is hosting a Mental Health Awarenes… Read moreSafeSpace P.O.W.E.R Walk: Mental Health Awareness Walk and Resource Fair
Join New York Times bestselling author Caroline Paul for a lively discussion of her book Tou… Read moreBook Club with Author Caroline Paul
CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
Mitch, thanks for exposing more democrat corruption and I guess I am terrible and I want babies to go diaperless.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.