Dubois overcomes early crisis to overpower Wardley to regain a portion of the heavyweight crown.

In a battle of epic proportions, Daniel Dubois overcame an early scare and two knockdowns to outlast and batter WBO champion Fabio Wardley into submission in the 11th round of a highly entertaining and brutal war on Saturday night in Manchester.  Dubois was stunned in the opening seconds and forced to climb off the canvas following a wild right hand and had to do the same in the third. To his credit Daniel recomposed himself and settled behind the jab to work his way back into the fight. By round 6 the scars of battle were evident on the face of the champion as Daniel rallied himself into a dominant position leaving Wardley swinging for the fences. As the rounds passed Fabio appeared far more desperate in his attempt to regain a foothold but found himself too easy to hit and despite his resilience was mere target practice from round 7 onwards. Dubois showed great persistance throughout and by round 10 there was a strong case for stopping the action to prevent the relentless punishment that yhe champion was absorbing in an attempt to save his title. Dubois landed a series of right hands early in the 11th leaving referee Howard Foster no option but to save Wardley from himself and award Dubois a famous and well deserved victory..  Dubois has now held both the WBA regular title, along with the IBF and currently WBO titles. its testament to his mental strength following 3 psychologically crushing defeats to return and regain such a valuable portion of the heavyweight championship despite recent critical opinions of the press and public. Dubois improves to 23-3 with 22 KOs, while Wardley suffers the first loss of his career, falling to 20-1-1 with 19 KOs.