Daniel Dubois WBO heavyweight champion now after his win over Fabio Wardley but many forget Usyk tossed that belt in the garbage.
Oleksandr Usyk did that not that long ago in fact.
He thought a fight with Fabio Wardley was not interesting enough and threw it away at the last minute and Wardley was elevated to champion without properly winning it in the ring.
Some notes on this for new fans to boxing:
- Dubois won WBO heavyweight title by stopping Wardley in round 11
- Oleksandr Usyk vacated the WBO belt in 2024
- Wardley was promoted to WBO champion November 2025 after Usyk vacated
- Wardley was making his first WBO title defense vs Dubois
- Usyk won the IBF belt back from Dubois in July 2025
- Dubois became “world heavyweight champion for the second time”
- Dubois was previously IBF champion after Usyk vacated that belt too
- Michael Buffer announced Dubois as “new WBO World Heavyweight Champion by TKO”
- The WBO belt Dubois now holds is the one Usyk gave up
- Usyk never defended WBO title against Wardley
So as you can see the heavyweight titles have been changing hands a lot in recent years in particular.
In a very weak heavyweight era compared to champions of years gone by.
This weekend’s fight however was highly entertaining and a solid effort from both boxers.
Here’s a look at the Dubois vs Wardley scorecards at time of stoppage — they might surprise you a little.
