Fabio Wardley activated the rematch clause to fight Daniel Dubois again for the WBO heavyweight title, days after suffering his first professional loss on May 9 in Manchester [1, 2, 3].
Daniel Dubois won the WBO heavyweight belt by stopping Wardley in the 11th round of their bout on Saturday, May 9. Wardley was visibly injured with a badly damaged nose and swollen eye at the stoppage [1]. Frank Warren, promoter for Dubois, confirmed the existence of a rematch clause after the fight [1, 2, 3].
Wardley, 31, said, "The boxing world knows my character, and Saturday night proved that without a shred of doubt. It was a fight for the ages, but I made some mistakes that I will rectify in the rematch. Congratulations to Daniel, but I'm coming for you and my belt" [1, 2].
Dubois, 28, is a two-time heavyweight champion. He lost the IBF title to Oleksandr Usyk in July 2025 but now holds the WBO title. His professional record stands at 23 wins and 3 losses, with defeats to Usyk twice and Joe Joyce once [1].
Oleksandr Usyk currently holds the WBA, WBC, and IBF heavyweight championships after relinquishing the WBO belt to Dubois. He is scheduled to fight Rico Verhoeven on May 23 in Egypt. If Usyk loses that fight, the IBF heavyweight title will become vacant immediately [2, 3].
The rematch between Wardley and Dubois remains the next key step in the WBO heavyweight division after the May 9 contest.
