Daniel Dubois early or Fabio Wardley late? Where heavyweight title clash will be won and lost
Will Dubois produce another stoppage in the early or middle rounds, will Wardley manage another late comeback, or is there another likely option?
For as good a fight as Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois is, is it as two-dimensional as some are claiming? Does it really boil down to “Dubois early or Wardley late”? It’s an understandable narrative on the face of it, given each man’s recent form, but the truth is, it might not hold up to much scrutiny.
So, let’s waste no time. We’ll address Wardley’s side of this equation first. He will enter Saturday’s WBO heavyweight title defence on the back of two late knockouts – one against Justis Huni in June , the other versus Joseph Parker in October .
These were not just late stoppages, though, with the Ipswich boxer taking out Huni in round 10 and Parker in the 11th; they were comeback KOs, as Wardley trailed on the scorecards on both occasions. WBO heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley (left) and challenger Daniel Dubois (PA) Yet for all their similarities, these finishes can be distinguished, too. Wardley’s finish against Huni was a true one-punch KO, a mammoth overhand that beat the Australian’s cross for pace, undoing all of Huni’s good work in an instant.
In that moment, Wardley was something of a matador, edging backwards slightly while Huni stepped in on his own jab feint and right straight. Against Parker, there was some controversy . Before the finish in the 11th round, Wardley actually hurt the New Zealander with a sneaky rear uppercut in the dying seconds of the 10th.
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