Fight Week Gets Feisty: Wardley's Camp Cries Foul, Dubois' Manager Calls a KO Before Round 5

REPORTED. The fighters played nice at Thursday's press conference in London. Their managers didn't. ESPN's James Regan (espn.com) caught both sides firing.

The rewind. On May 9 at Co-op Live in Manchester, Fabio Wardley dropped Daniel Dubois 10 seconds in and again in the third. Dubois got up both times, took over, and referee Howard Foster stopped it 28 seconds into Round 11 with Wardley badly cut. That handed Dubois the WBO belt, made him a two-time heavyweight champ, and gave Wardley his first pro loss (BBC: bbc.co.uk Reuters: reuters.com).

Team Wardley: "We're calling for a stronger referee." Wardley's manager, Michael Ofo, told ESPN: "I wasn't happy with the MMA rugby tackles, there were a few points where he [Dubois] was putting the thumb [out] and sort of pawing in Fabio's face in an effort to open up the cut more." And: "A few rabbit shots and leading with the head." Ofo says they've raised it with the British Boxing Board of Control: "we're going to be applying a lot of pressure on the referee on the night just to make sure, on both sides, that it's a fair fight." (Brackets are ESPN's.)

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Team Dubois: "before Round 5." Dubois' manager, Riz Khan, fired back across the table: "Fabio had a rematch clause, and I was quite surprised that he instigated it really quickly." Then the shot: "We know Fabio is not fully healed from his injuries, that's my personal opinion. He['s] going to try to take Daniel out in the first few rounds. Daniel's going to be ready to knock Fabio out, in my opinion, before Round 5." ([Edit: ESPN's "He'a" corrected to "He['s]".])

What's riding on Saturday. DAZN's Chris Walker writes (dazn.com) that "Daniel Dubois vs. Moses Itauma remains a live plan somewhere inside Frank Warren's Queensberry office, but both men still have serious business to handle if that heavyweight blockbuster is to land in a stadium next year." DAZN Boxing posted the first part on X (x.com). The catch: Itauma lost to Filip Hrgovic, and Dubois has to get past Wardley again first.

Darlings, when the suits do the trash talk, the fighters are saving it for Saturday. 🍿

Catch up on Dubois's road to the belts (on Boxbid) and our fight-week preview (on Boxbid). Boxer page: Daniel Dubois (on Boxbid). Got a call for Saturday? Make your pick for Dubois-Wardley 2 and Fundora-Hadribeaj on the Boxbid picks card before picks lock Saturday at 2 PM PT (on Boxbid).

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• Bad blood between the camps: WARM (REPORTED). Both managers are on the record with ESPN.
• Dubois vs. Itauma in a stadium in 2027: COLD-WARM. DAZN calls it a "live plan," but it depends on Dubois winning Saturday, and Itauma has his own rebuild to do.
• Dubois KO before Round 5: that's Khan's prediction, not a meter call. 😉

Update, Oct. 16: Dubois' trainer Don Charles has hit back at Tony Bellew's claim, in IFL TV's words, that Dubois "still has quit in him" despite climbing off the deck twice in the first fight (x.com). His line, as captioned by IFL TV: "You could translate that to what he is accusing Daniel of…" Queensberry, meanwhile, says the rematch at The O2 "has now fully sold out" (x.com).

Rugby tackles or sour grapes? Drop your take in the Boxbid community. 👀

You didn't hear it from me… 🤫