Daniel Dubois reacts to stopping Fabio Wardley in a highly entertaining heavyweight title fight for the sport of boxing.
It was a fight that delivered for boxing fans and although the heavyweight division is a very weak era of heavyweights compared to Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis and others, it was a solid fight.
Good action. Afterwards now two-time heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois said:
“Yeah, it was needed. I needed to get whacked, come back up. I felt like a warrior in there, just digging deep and coming back. I wasn’t going to be denied. I had my dad and my people in my corner and I couldn’t let them down.”
Dubois got caught with a lot of punches that surely someone like Usyk would have capitalized on more.
If he does get another fight with Usyk whom he’s lost twice to now.
Some things to note post-fight.
- Dubois showed real heart by surviving two knockdowns in rounds 1 and 3 to stop Wardley in round 11.
- He answered the “quitter” criticism by getting up twice and taking over the fight instead of folding.
- Dubois proved his gas tank by fighting hard for 10+ rounds after being dropped early.
- He displayed an effective jab and one-twos that damaged Wardley’s face and closed his right eye.
- Dubois kept his composure after chaos in round 1, adjusted, and broke Wardley down behind fundamentals.
- He showed killer instinct, backing Wardley into a neutral corner and landing a “sickening right hand” for the stoppage.
- Dubois’ power is still elite – he had Wardley hurt, wobbled and bruised from round 4 until the finish.
- Frank Warren said Dubois has “a fabulous jab,” “hand speed,” and is “a big puncher” with “powerful” shots.
- The win makes Dubois a two-time world champion and keeps him in the mix for Usyk after Usyk fights Rico Verhoeven.
- Dubois told reporters he still wants to “put the wrong right” vs Usyk and fight for undisputed again.
David Morrell of Cuba suffered an upset on the night as well in boxing.
