Daniel Dubois runs through Fabio Wardley with second-round TKO to retain heavyweight title

In May, then-WBO heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley showed incredible toughness in a losing effort against Daniel Dubois. The pair rematched on Saturday in London, and it took Dubois less than two rounds to end their rivalry, retaining the title with a second-round TKO.

It took just one exchange for Dubois to deliver a big message, with a big right hand sending Wardley twisting the canvas. Wardley beat the count, showing the toughness that was fully on display in their first bout, but it was still all Dubois, landing harder, more technical punches when Wardley attempted to uncork his brand of looping power shots.

Somehow, Wardley survived a furious assault from Dubois down the stretch of the opening round to make it back to his corner, but the damage was clearly done.

Wardley looked hurt by every shot Dubois landed, and those shots were landing whenever Dubois decided to throw them. Rather than put their fighter through a night of damage as they had in the first meeting, Wardley's corner threw in the towel as Dubois was unloading with another flurry against the ropes in the final minute of the second round.

Many worried that Wardley had sustained potentially life-altering damage in the first bout with Dubois, though he did score two early knockdowns to keep some hope in the storm.

Coming back so quickly after taking as much damage as he had the first time was not an issue, according to Wardley, but it was clear that he and his corner both had a limited tolerance for how much damage he would take on Saturday.

After former undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who holds two knockout wins over Dubois, vacated his four world championships, there are now four separate champions, and Dubois said that he looks forward to big money unification bouts in 2027.

IBF champion Filip Hrgovic entered the ring after Dubois' win to share a respectful moment, though both men expressed interest in taking part in one of those unification bouts in the near future. Dubois stopped Hrgovic in the eighth round of a 2024 bout for the interim IBF title.