Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois & Jack Rafferty vs. Ekow Essuman + David Morrell vs. Zak Chelli RBR.

Looking online this morning. I think this was the cross over fight boxing has needed for a long time.

 

Warren has been putting the ground work in for years - you can bet his handling of Fury in 2018-22 has led to a few quiet, positive words in the heavyweight trade, and now he effectively has a UK-based, open-ended "super series" in the division if he wants it. The crowd always supports heavies so money shouldn't be an issue with DAZN backing him too.

The post-fight clamour for Itauma-DDD (and Warren's skill at managing the WBO down the years) should make life interesting, it seems like DDD will just keep coming back form whatever happens to him. Wardley needs to fight another boxer rather than a heavy puncher next, you'd actually fancy him against Fury with that chin and one-hit power.

 

Interesting thing last night. My other half isn't a boxing fan at all and the only fight she's sat with me all the way through, willingly and without staring at her phone all through, was Fury-Klitschko. She thought it was hilarious.

I dragged her into watch last night after the 10-second knockdown and she was absolutely gripped by it. Doesn't understand a thing but couldn't believe how brave (and frankly, stupid) boxing can be.

 

Connor McGregor is MMA historical figurehead? Surely some mistake....

 

I think getting the early knockdown cost Wardley the fight.

Once he saw he could hurt Dubois any gameplay went out the window and he just kept throwing power shots, often wildly missing.

 

That was the best PPV card I have ever seen last night. Absolutely brilliant action fights throughout.

 

I don't see it that way. That's basically his strategy in nearly all of his matches. He can't do that much else against a top level boxer.

To the contrary, he didn't go gung ho after knocking him down. I think this was to his detriment the second time. He could've put it on him there, especially knowing how ridiculously tough he is in taking anything coming back.

 

An absolutely brilliant fight. It had everything — knockdowns, a full‑on Roman Reigns spear, huge right‑hand juggernauts, a cracking atmosphere, and a genuine 50/50 feel from start to finish. I’ll be honest, I hadn’t forgiven the ref for the George Groves stoppage all those years ago, but credit where it’s due: he was excellent tonight. You could see he was close to pulling Wardley out a few times, but he stayed focused on the fighter and made the right calls.

Sure, he messed up the 10‑second warning and jumped in before the bell, but with that kind of electric atmosphere, it’s almost understandable.

The cameraman needs to stop the zooms at the beginning of round 1. Naz knocked down someone where the camera angle missed it in round 1 and we almost had the same yesterday.

But well done to both men — this was British boxing at its best.

 

You could see Foster was basically staring at Wardley for most of the last 2 rounds though so whatever he did, wasn't for lack of attention. I agree it should have been done around the 8th but if the corner and medics say it's OK the ref's in a tough spot.

You know you've seen an epic when the ref's shirt is a different shade at the end.

 

That was the best heavyweight fight I've seen in a very long time

Tickles me that Turki had nothing to do with it after throwing money round like confetti

 

What a great heavyweight fight, the whole card was great. The last two rounds were hard to watch, I'm sure Ben Davison is already getting criticism for it already. But seriously I remember Don Charles pulling Chisora out saying "you'll fight another day" seems like there was no one to save Fabio from himself.

I can't see Fabio being the same after this fight. On a brighter note he'll have Turki clamouring to make the rematch, maybe even put it on the undercard of Fury AJ

 

An absolutely brutal and thrilling fight last night. Both men came out with huge huge credit.

Wardley is literally made of Iron. The shots he took last night we were absolutely ridiculous, he has the heart of a lion. I know he had a rematch clause which I imagine he’ll activate but hopefully he can push this back as far as possible…. He needs some time off now because fights like that take a hell of a lot out of you.

Dubois, for all the stick he’s received for being a “quitter” , shut a lot of people up last night. That was a great display from him, picking himself up off the floor twice and going on to get his hand raised in a dog fight like that

What a ****ing fight

 

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That was ****ing brutal. How Wardley never hit the deck I'll never know.

Was a great fight but it was definitely a bit uncomfortable watching the last couple of rounds, didn't really feel like genuine sport at that point. Wardley a true warrior and needed somebody to save him from himself.

Fair play to Dubois though, an excellent performance from him after getting dropped so early on. Interested to see who he goes in with next.

 

Brutal

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