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

11:45pm

One of the fights of the year

Daniel Dubois overcame two early knockouts to assert his authority and dominance over WBO heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley in Manchester.

The 28-year-old became a two-time world champion after stopping Wardley in the 11th round.

In truth, it probably should have been over sooner. Wardley’s corner kept him in the fight even when it looked like his eyesight and bloodied nose needed some serious attention.

For Dubois, his comeback after a second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk was so impressive, that it would be no surprise to see him try his luck for a third time against the Ukrainian.

Wardley, meanwhile, needs to take stock and recover after some serious punishment.

11:41pm Key moments

Round 11: Dubois wins!

A few seconds... and it’s over! Wardley is stopped by the referee, and Dubois is mobbed by his team as he celebrates.

11:40pm

Round 10: Wardley vs Dubois

Wardley continues to take punishment, and the corner have a decision to make.

Round 10

Dubois 10-9

11:35pm

Round 9: Wardley vs Dubois

Wardley’s open cuts bring some concern from the referee before the round restarts, but he gets back into the mix and continues to gamely exchange with Dubois.

Both fighters are showing some wear and tear, and no little fatigue, and Wardley lands an uppercut but Dubois continues.

Wardley connects with a big right-hander, but Dubois comes back and unloads. For a moment he looks completely jazzed, and Dubois almost has him with 20 seconds left, Wardley wobbling and swaying. 

Round 9

Dubois 10-9

11:31pm

Round 8: Wardley vs Dubois

Wardley continues to take some serious punishment. He throws a wild one at Dubois but the challenger is now the more mobile of the duo, and is evading much of it. He continues to use his jab to damage Wardley, whose eye is swelling up as well as his nose.
The two fighters slug it out towards the end of the round, and we’re into the championship rounds now.

Round 8

Dubois 10-9

11:27pm

Round 7: Wardley vs Dubois

Dubois hurts Wardley early, and his jab is starting to show its cumulative toll on his opponent.

Wardley’s nose is streaming  blood into his mouth. He looks something of a mess right now, and Dubois is adding to the damage in the closing stages of the round.

Wardley is still throwing his own punches, and he fires up into the dying seconds of the seventh. A great fight.

Round 7

Dubois 10-9 

11:23pm Key moments

Round 6: Wardley vs Dubois

The momentum is now with Dubois. The challenger is holding the centre of the ring, but he’s not yet walking Wardley down, and the champion still looks to attack.

For the first time, Wardley looks a little fatigued as he grapples with Dubois on the ropes, and then he eats a fierce punch.

Wardley takes a few right-handers and for a few seconds looks in real trouble. Dubois is now walking him down, and has Wardley on the ropes. The bell might have rescued him there.

Round 6

Dubois 10-9

11:18pm

Round 5: Wardley vs Dubois

Dubois looks more balanced in the fifth, and is landing plenty more of his punches. Wardley doesn’t look beaten or especially hurt, but he loses his mouthguard and we pause until it’s back in. Dubois is looking menacing, hunched forward almost, looming.

The round ends with a couple of shots to the body from Dubois.

Round 5

Dubois 10-9

11:15pm

Round 4: Wardley vs Dubois

Some encouraging right-handers from Dubois, but no real  connections yet, until a little way past the halfway point in the round.

Wardley on the back foot, and some encouragement for the challenger after getting rocked a couple of times already.

Round 4

Dubois 10-9

11:10pm

Round 3: Wardley vs Dubois

Wardley has Dubois down again, and he beats the count from the referee midway through the first round. Wardley is sending some wild hooks now but doesn’t connect.

The champion looks lithe.

Round 3

Wardley 10-8

11:07pm

Wardley drops Dubois

Here it is.

11:06pm

Round 2: Wardley vs Dubois

Wardley has never been down in his career. Dubois has a fair few times, so he won’t be rattled, at least.

A steadier effort from Dubois in the second round, with a few nasty exchanges, but it’s a calmer round than the first.

Round 2

Dubois 10-9

11:02pm Key moments

Round 1: Wardley vs Dubois

11 seconds. 11 seconds and Dubois is on the canvas after a thumping right-hand hook from Wardley. Wowzer.

With almost half the round gone, the two clinch and tumble to the ground together in a thunderous collapse.

Wardley looks sharp.

Round 1

Wardley 10-8

10:54pm Video

Fighters in the ring

We’re moments away from the main event.

Defending world champion vs former world champion. Wardley vs Dubois. We’re expecting a knockout, one way or another.

10:30pm

‘No marketing hyperbole; it’s a warning’

It’s time... here’s part of my preview. The “Don’t Blink” tag is not marketing hyperbole; it is a warning. With a combined knockout ratio that suggests the judges will have a very quiet night, this Wardley-Dubois fight is likely to be decided by who lands first and who can absorb the inevitable storm.

It remains a classic encounter between a disciplined, heavy-hitting contender in Dubois and an ultra-confident, opportunistic champion in Wardley with “destructiveness” at the core of both game plans.

Dubois will need to prove he has moved past his previous emotional shortcomings. His power remains his trump card, but his ability to box behind the jab, as instructed by Charles, who has affirmed to The Telegraph that his charge “has all the skills and boxing ability above his opponent that should give us the win”. That belief, and those skills, will be the key to whether DDD is victorious - or not.

Meanwhile, Wardley the champion thrives on doubt. He will look to draw Dubois into a brawl early, in my opinion, testing his chin and his composure. If Wardley can force an early exchange, we could see a very short night.

My prediction for this fight is that it could be won by the fighter who remains most tactical in the first four rounds. Expect a frantic, explosive start, but should the fight pass the halfway mark, it will become a battle of the experience of Dubois’ high-level world title fights and maintaining his fortitude versus Wardley’s ability to stay in the fight and find the equaliser at any point as the rounds wear on. I might suggest it will not go twelve rounds, but anything could happen in this fight.

For Dubois, the stakes could not be higher. A win makes him a two-time world champion at 28—a feat that would silence the critics, validate his team’s unorthodox methods, and put him right back in the conversation for undisputed honours. A loss, however, would be catastrophic, a signal that his “Dynamite” has lost its fuse.

10:28pm

Rafferty stops Essuman

During round six, Essuman can barely see out of his left eye, if at all.

Blood is streaming down his face, and when he returns for treatment to get him ready for the seventh round, his corner pull him out. Rafferty was brutal there.

10:12pm

‘Don’t Blink Time is approaching’ as main event draws near

Just interviewed Frank Warren the promoter, Agit Kabayel and Moses Itauma in the plush seats, opposite my writing and commentary position. Moses Itauma, the greatest young prospect in boxing, believes he could beat anyone ‘given time’ and Warren asserted that Kabayel, the WBC interim champion, must be given the opportunity to fight Usyk after his May 23 date in Egypt, or must be forced to vacate.

There’s a real buzz here. Itauma is picking his training stablemate Wardley, Kabayel thinks Wardley, and Warren can see a route to victory in our WBO heavyweight title fight tonight for both Wardley, and Dubois.

Don’t Blink Time is approaching ...

09:56pm

Rafferty vs Essuman next

Jack Rafferty vs Ekow Essuman is the next fight up, for the WBA continental welterweight championship.

09:44pm Video

Chelli aims high

David Benavidez and Canelo Alvarez are the men than Chelli has put on notice. Unlikely, of course, but not as fanciful as it might have been yesterday after that stoppage.

09:40pm

Rea defeats Cameron

In the fourth round, Rea sends over a huge left hook that ends Cameron to the canvas. He’s up on his feet after a few seconds, wobbling, just steady enough for the umpire to let the pair go at it again.

Seconds later, three more blows from Rea and Cameron crumbles forward to the ground. That’s it, the ref has seen enough. So has Cameron.

09:29pm

‘Hard work and dedication’ gives Chelli ‘huge’ win over Morrell

Incredible. I just had a brief word with Zak Chelli. He stopped the No 6 light heavyweight in the world David Morrell in the final seconds of the tenth round. Hard work and dedication he told me. And oodles of self belief. He was a 100-1 outsider. Upset of the year. Huge.

09:22pm

Rea vs Cameron up next

The WBA inter-continental light heavyweight title is on the line as Brad Rea takes on Liam Cameron.

09:09pm Video

Chelli stops Morrell

Chelli is behind on points in the ninth round, but from nowhere unleashes a flurry of blows that Morrell finds hard to resist.

The bell saves the former world champion, and his corner smartly delays the start of the 10th to buy him more time to find his feet once more.

However, Chelli takes a few moments to size up his opponent before there is about a minute left, and an exhausted Morrell simply cannot defend himself any longer, the ref stops in to give Chelli a huge, career-best victory.

09:02pm

‘Anything could happen’

Record attendance indoors at this event tonight not surprising given the intrigue in this intriguing and likely destructive heavyweights in Wardley, the WBO champion, and Dubois. Anything could happen, but we are set for an action packed fight which I doubt will go the distance. Wardley could take his foe into deep water, yet Dubois could end the fight at any moment with his power. Dubois inside 6/7 rounds is my pick. But as they are saying, don’t blink.

08:57pm

Results so far

We’ve had some undercard action already in Manchester.

Former world champion David Morrell is currently in the ring with Zak Chelli, in the eighth of 10 rounds.

Before then:

• Gavin Gwynne beat Khalil Majid by majority decision
• Bakhodir Jalolov beat Argon Smakici by TKO

08:49pm Key moments

Wardley makes first title defence

Welcome to Telegraph Sport’s live coverage of Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois’s world title fight in Manchester.

The two heavyweights will fight for Wardley’s WBO belt, with the 31-year-old unbeaten in his career so far.

Wardley’s interim belt was upgraded to the full championship last year, and he faces a former world champion Dubois in his first defence.

Dubois is a former IBF title holder, but is coming off the back of his second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.

They last fought in 2025, the Ukrainian becoming the undisputed champion for the second time in his career after reclaiming the belt he vacated after two wins over Tyson Fury.

Dubois’ first showing against Usyk in Poland in 2023 had his opponent seemingly down for the count, only for him to be rescued by a low-blow ruling. Dubois was ultimately knocked out by Usyk, before going on to finally become champion in 2024 when he was elevated from interim champion.

His second outing against Usyk saw Dubois put in a much more sluggish performance, and at 28, the Briton will need to put in a convincing display against Wardley if he is to be considered one of the best fighters in the division once more.

Wardley is yet to suffer defeat in his career. The closest he came was a draw against Frazer Clarke in 2024, but their rematch later that year ended with Clarke being stopped in the first round in Saudi Arabia.

Since then, he defeated Justis Huni in Ipswich last year for the interim WBA strap, and in October 2025, he secured a late TKO over Joseph Parker at the O2 Arena for the interim WBO belt, now upgraded after Usyk vacated.

Usyk’s next fight is a lucrative clash with kickboxer Rico Voerhoven on May 23, putting him in the frame for yet another undisputed bout against tonight’s winner.

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