Derek Chisora was ringside in Manchester as Daniel Dubois survived two early knockdowns to stop Fabio Wardley in the 11th round and win the WBO heavyweight title.
Chisora praised Dubois for the way he recovered and stayed composed under pressure. “Daniel got dropped in the first round and I said ‘he’s winning the fight,’” Chisora said. “Everyone around me looked at me like ‘what?’ Guess what he did? He f&king won the fight.”*
Dubois’ resilience stood out most to the former heavyweight contender. Chisora said the new champion “bit down on his gumshield and carried on,” adding that Dubois “boxed amazing” and showed “no quit in his eyes” even while taking clean shots.
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Wardley, however, received a much tougher assessment. Chisora felt the former champion abandoned the basics and became too focused on landing power shots. “Fabio was not ready for boxing,” he said. “There was no jab, nothing. Looking for power shots.”
Chisora was very critical of Wardley’s lack of jab, arguing that it cost him control of the fight. “How many jabs did Fabio chuck? He didn’t chuck no jabs,” he said. “He was supposed to work his jab, but he was not working his jab.”
After the dramatic finish, it was revealed that Dubois and Wardley have a rematch clause in place. Still, with Wardley likely needing time to recover, there are already calls for Dubois to make his first defense against Moses Itauma instead.
Image Credit: Queensberry Promotions