Daniel Dubois early or Fabio Wardley late? Where heavyweight title clash will be won and lost

So, on this occasion, it was more about optics and accumulation than a single-shot, Houdini-esque escape. Still, it was an escape.

Yet Wardley’s two previous outings, a pair of duels with Frazer Clarke, showed that the 31-year-old can be involved in very different types of fights. The first clash with Clarke was a split draw after a hellish 12 rounds, while the rematch ended inside two and a half minutes, as Wardley literally put a dent in his fellow Briton’s head.

Top to bottom: Wardley’s finishes over Joseph Parker, Justis Huni and Frazer Clarke (Getty)

In fact, prior to this, many of Wardley’s wins had come via early stoppages, helping him build an overall record of 20-0-1 (19 KOs).

And what of Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs)?

Firstly, his last “early” finish came three years ago, when he stopped Kevin Lerena in round two after challenging fans’ perceptions of his own heart (Dubois had climbed off the canvas three times in round one, battling through a knee injury).

Since then, the 28-year-old has fought five times and gone 3-2. His defeats by Oleksandr Usyk occurred in round nine in 2023 and round five last summer, while his wins came in the fifth frame (Anthony Joshua, 2024), eighth (Filip Hrgovic, 2024) and 10th (Jarrell Miller, 2023).

Top to bottom: how Dubois left Anthony Joshua and Filip Hrgovic, and how he stopped Jarrell Miller (Getty)

While some see Dubois as a flat-track bully who does not like to endure a tough fight, the former IBF champ absorbed significant damage against Miller before stopping the American in the final 10 seconds of their bout, and he was also tagged cleanly and repeatedly by Hrgovic before rallying to force a doctor stoppage. He was even buzzed by Joshua in the seconds prior to knocking out his fellow Briton.

Wardley vs Dubois odds

Wardley – 5/6 • Dubois – 21/20 • Draw – 18/1

Odds via Betfred. Betting sites give a slight edge to the champion, with Wardley odds-on for the win over Dubois, who is around the even-money mark with most bookies.

So, Dubois does have the capacity to withstand damage, despite any surface-level or lazy narratives around him, and he does have the ability to stop a fight late. Conversely, Wardley is not only a threat in the final few rounds, even if his two bouts in 2025 belie this reality.

Regardless, there is a good chance that this turns into a brawl quickly – and, actually, that a finish arrives in the middle rounds. “A finish” replaces “the finish” here, although the consensus is that Wardley vs Dubois will not go the full distance. But even if the final round is required at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena, who is to say the final bell will be? This fight has been marketed as “Don’t Blink” for a reason.