Dubois stops Wardley in second round to retain WBO heavyweight title

Daniel Dubois retained his WBO heavyweight title with a second-round stoppage of Fabio Wardley at The O2 in London on Saturday, 17 October. The rematch ended at 2 minutes 21 seconds of the round after Wardley’s corner threw in the towel.

Dubois took control early, putting Wardley down with a right hand in the opening round. The challenger returned to his feet and continued, but the champion maintained the pressure. Wardley reached the first bell after spending much of the round defending against Dubois’s attacks.

The pattern continued in the second round as Dubois forced Wardley back towards the ropes and then into a corner. With the challenger struggling to escape the punches, trainer Ben Davison threw in the towel. Referee Steve Gray stepped in to bring the contest to an end.

A faster finish in the rematch

The finish was considerably quicker than their first meeting in Manchester in May. On that occasion, Dubois recovered from two early knockdowns before stopping Wardley in the 11th round to take the WBO belt. This time, the defending champion secured the opening knockdown and finished the return contest without allowing it to develop into another extended battle.

Wardley had exercised his contractual rematch clause in an attempt to reclaim the championship. Instead, he suffered a second successive defeat to Dubois, leaving his professional record at 20 wins, two losses and one draw. Wardley has also previously held the WBA interim heavyweight title. Dubois, a former IBF heavyweight champion, kept the WBO title and completed back-to-back victories over his British rival.

Sources

• Sky Sports: Daniel Dubois wins WBO heavyweight title rematch in the second round (2026-10-18)
• theScore: Dubois TKOs Wardley in second round to retain WBO heavyweight title (2026-10-17)