Frank Warrens Queensbury boxing parents a fantastic show on Saturday night at the Co-op live arena in Manchester, featuring WBO heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley 20-0-1 (19 Ko’s) making the first defence of the title that was graced to him following former champion Oleksandr Usyk opting to vacate. Wardleys challenger is the former WBA regular and IBF champion Daniel Dubois 22-3 (21 Ko’s) it was may prove to be an epic scrap. Both fighters possess great one punch power with Wardley garnering one of the highest percentage rates in boxing today. Daniel however may have more on the line in this one having suffered 2 consequent defeats by stoppage in championship challenges along with a damaging early career loss to Joe Joyce. Both defeats to Usyk are by no means a disgrace for the Londoner and May prove a catalyst to him becoming a more hardened professional this time around. Fabio turned pro largely under the radar, from a lightly regarded white collar fighter he chose to take a huge leap of faith under the tutelage of Dillian Whyte and along the way has always found a way to win, often against the odds or in fights where he appeared to be trailing on the scorecards. Most recently Fabio has scored damaging knockouts over Frazer Clarke (after a draw) which is the only blemish on his record, a stoppage of Joseph Parker, in a fight that was drifting away from him and a one punch howitzer that stopped Justis Huni in a fight where Wardley was trailing noticeably on points. Dubois has more versatility and proven pedigree from the amateurs, but Wardley appears more battle hardened and willing to take risks. The factor that is repeatedly raised coming into this fight is the nature of a couple of Daniels losses, where sceptics feel that he quit when the going got hot (with Joyce and Usyk) Regardless of opinions, it’s a fantastic heavyweight match that won’t disappoint.
The show is propped up with some tasty undercard bouts including a light heavyweight feature between former 2 weight champion David Morrell 12-1 (9 Ko’s) who was recently due to meet Callum Smith before Smith suffered an unfortunate injury. Morrell meets tough Zak Chelli 16-3-1 (8 Ko’s) in a light heavyweight 10 rounder. Former heavyweight contender and Cruiserweight world title challenger Mike Perez 31-3-1 (22 Ko’s) of Ireland via cuba meets undefeated Nigerian Franklin Arinze 10-0 (7 Ko’s) Arinze in untested as of yet and Perez hasn’t tasted defeat since his challenge for Mairis Breidis’s title in the super series 9 years ago.
Liam Cameron 24-7-1 (10 Ko’s) returns at light heavyweight to meet tough Brad Rea 21-2 (10 Ko’s) in a very spicy match, Rea coming off a closely contested decision loss to Lyndon Arthur and Cameron having only boxed once since his 2 highly publicised fights with the promising Ben Whittaker.
Jack Rafferty 26-0-1 (17 Ko’s) meets the always entertaining Ekow Essuman at welterweights. Essuman last appeared in a losing effort against Jack Catterall, having previously ending the career of Josh Taylor. The undefeated Rafferty coming off a disappointing draw with Mark Chaimberlain last august for the British and commonwealth super lightweight belts.
Also featuring is undefeated American based Usbek heavyweights Bakhodir Jalolov 16-0 (14 Ko’s) Jalolov meets the underwhelming Agron Smakici 21-3 (19 Ko’s). Jalolov turned pro in 2018, but made the peculiar decision after 6 pro starts, to return to the amateurs and win the 2020 Olympic gold medal at super heavyweight in Tokyo then returned to his professional career, racking up several wins before taking a year off in 2024 to feature in the Paris Olympics, winning yet another super heavyweight gold medal.
The fights are promoted solely by Frank Warrens Queensbury promotions and will be broadcast globally via DAZN PPV.
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