Daniel Dubois has repeatedly been given permission by the IBF to make an optional defense of his heavyweight title against #12 Fabio Wardley next if the rematch with Anthony Joshua doesn’t happen on February 22nd.
Promoter Eddie Hearn says Joshua, 35, may not be ready to take the rematch with Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) on February 22nd because he has some “niggles” [translation: minor injuries] that may prevent him from returning that soon.
Wardley (18-0-1, 17 KOs) would be a popular choice for Dubois to defend against for UK fans, who are high on the 29-year-old. He’s operated at the British level his entire eight-year career and is coming off a first-round knockout win over Frazer Clarke on October 12th in Riyadh.
That quick knockout was more of a fluke thing for Wardley because he’s not that kind of a talent. In his previous fight against Frazer, he battled to a 12-round draw last March, which left Fabio’s face almost unrecognizable due to his punishment. He looked like he’d been stepped on.
In the rematch, Wardley caught Clarke with a clubbing haymaker punch in the first round that stunned him. He then finished him off before he could recover. Again, choosing Wardley would please the British fans, but it wouldn’t do much for non-Brits, and it would likely be a mismatch.
Dubois is on another level than Wardley and is a true world-class fighter. Wardley has still yet to cut his teeth on upper-tier competition during his career, and it’s way too soon for him to be fighting a talent like Dubois.
“Daniel Dubois has been given the green light to make an ‘optional defense’ of his IBF world title against Fabio Wardley,” per Sky Sports if the Anthony Joshua rematch doesn’t happen.
Better Options for Dubois’ Next Defense
– Agit Kabayel
– Martin Bakole
– Zhilei Zhang
– Jared Anderson
Joseph Parker has been mentioned as a possibility, but his fighting style is too negative, and very boring to watch. Parker used to be an entertaining fighter, but after his knockout loss to Joe Joyce in 2022, he reinvented himself as a runner and now he’s not exciting to watch.
If Dubois fought Parker, he would need to be prepared to deal with a lot of movement and clinching. That’s Parker’s style of fighting is poisonous for the eyes.
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