Dubois new world champion as referee stops brutal Wardley fight – reaction

Daniel Dubois connects with the head of Fabio Wardley - Andrew Couldridge/Reuters Daniel ⁠Dubois dealt Fabio Wardley his first defeat as ​a ‌professional to take the WBO heavyweight title in a thunderous and bloody all-British clash on Saturday. Referee Howard Foster stepped in at the start of the 11th round to ‌signal ‌the ⁠end of the fight with Wardley bleeding heavily from the bridge of ⁠the nose and with his right eye almost closed. Dubois rose twice from the ​canvas, including being dropped ‌after the first 15 seconds of the fight, to pulverise Wardley and ‌become a ​world ⁠heavyweight champion for the second time in his ⁠career.

He weathered the early onslaught and started to land some punishing shots of his own, showing his boxing acumen and establishing control to leave Wardley’s face bloodied and battered. Wardley gamely hung on in a slugfest for the ages and despite remaining upright throughout, he was put out of his misery when the referee stepped in at the start of the penultimate round. “It was a ​war.

Thank you Fabio,” said Dubois, ​who was previously IBF champion ‌after the ​belt was vacated ​by Oleksandr Usyk ⁠in ⁠2024, with the Ukrainian winning it back in July 2025. 11:54pm Video Dubois: ‘I’m a warrior in there’ In the ring, Dubois is interviewed and he paid tribute to his beaten opponent. He said: “It was a war.

We came through some sticky moments. It was a war. Thank you, Fabio, for that.