Worried about Wardley’s health.

Easy to say from the couch. 20 people died constructing the Brooklyn Bridge. Thankfully safety and controls improved and this is no longer the case on large scale construction. Likewise much more care is taken for the wellbeing of fighters in the 21st century.

Plenty of people that have been in boxing a long time have said that beating went on too long. If Fabio landed anything of signficance in the final 4-5 rounds then continuing would have been justified, he simply wasn't.

 

Howard Eastmen said the same thing.

 

Same. I don't feel that way often watching boxing, but definitely felt it during this fight. Wardley having such a great story and getting to where he is made for a gut wrenching watching as his greatest attribute, heart, was both what brought him to the big show and what was ultimately doing him irreparable harm. It was tough to watch as heart is the thing we most admire in boxers, but it can be shown in many ways, and sometimes taking a beating isn't the way we want to see it.

 

Parker vs Joyce is a good example of a pretty well sustained and damaging beatdown where Parker was still landing enough to stay in the fight. The cosmetics of that weren't great but there was still an element of it being competitive that was missing for the final rounds yesterday.

 

Dubois adjusted to the right hand in round 4. I don't think a meaningful right hand was landed after that. I thought it was pretty much over after round 5.

 

Fighters would also wind up in asylums (Battling Nelson), blind (Greb, Langford), or dead (Frankie Campbell). We still see the same now (Anaguchi).

I'm not saying whether or not I think Wardley should have been allowed to continue as long as the fight went, but it's easy to understand the concern. We've got many years of examples of what can happen to boxers that take a lot of damage.

He's that classic 'iron man' type that can outlast and comeback with his combination of power and durability. For as long as he wants to continue and gets properly medical clearance, I'll look forward to his fights.

I agree with you that he needs to improve in order to win, but also just not take this kind of beating again.

 

My advice would be take the rematch (he will as the man's a fearless beast) and if you get another beat down retire and get an analyst job on DAZN before you start slurring about the gaff.

He's a good fighter dangerous fighter but he does not have the skill at nearly 32 to close the gap so ''rebuilding'' is not really a viable option.

So basically go for it or go home are the two options.

 

To be fair to Fabio, he hit Dubois with a monster right in the 9th, and Dubois returned the favour, then about 30 seconds later, Wardley hit Dubois with an absolute uppercut from hell in the 9th that probably would've knocked out anyone else in the top 20, and 2 seconds later, Dubois landed a right that sent his head into the front row. After that, it should have been stopped by the corner. I think there were about 20 seconds left in the round.

It showed that no matter what Wardley did, Dubois had the fight in the bag. It's hard for the ref to stop a fight when Wardley is still landing punches. It was for a world heavyweight title, but that 10th round was completely unnecessary, as were the few more big shots he took in the 11th before it was stopped.

Watching the fight back, I think Wardley's unorthodox style, the fact that he punched himself out by the 6th, the way he turns his back, and the fact that his nose bursts open as soon as it is hit with a jab, all made it look a lot worse live. It still definitely should've been stopped sooner, but Wardley will be fine. If this were his 3rd or 4th fight like this, then I'd be more concerned. I actually don't think he's faced anyone with serious power until Dubois. Chisora has taken much more damage than Wardley has.

 

I hope he doesn't end up as another Joe Joyce. It's so sad seeing Joe now - he's so lost and scattered at just 40 years old. It would be even more noticeable with Wardley since he's a smart and well spoken bloke.

 

I'd be worried about Wardley's health if this was a pattern we see in every fight. It was brutal and should have been stopped a few rounds earlier but Wardley should still be able to come back from this physically ok (touch wood). Mentally is a different matter. Every fighter reacts to a first loss differently. If Wardley's psyche was built on his inability to be beaten or stopped then it's a big blow obviously like it was for Joe Joyce. But if he was just riding the wave till he fell off then maybe it would be to biggie and he can come back ok. I think like the other poster said the way Wardley's face busts open every fight makes it look a lot more brutal than it was. It was definitely brutal no doubt, but I think Wardley can still come back and have success.

 

I see what you're saying but Wardley's had like 20 fights in 10 years while Battling Levinsky had over 100 and Greb had twice as many. If Greb/Tunney 1 happened today half the board would be writing Tunney's obituary, yet we all know what Tunney went on to do. I don't know a great deal about Frankie Campbell's career but it doesn't seem like he was damaged goods going into the Baer fight. It's unfortunate he suffered the injury he did that caused him to die after the fight.

Wardley needs a good six months away from any sparring to allow his brain to recover. After that he should be good to go, and in the interim he really needs to decide if Davison is the right trainer for him because if he continues to box the way he did he will find himself going life and death more often than not.

I was a bit indifferent to Wardley before this fight, but like you I'll be looking forward to his fights. As limited as he is, and hopefully he improves, he's someone who wouldn't have looked out of place in any era.

 

the referee should have stopped the fight earlier imo just based on teh fact that
1. Wardley was doing the same thing over and over and it wasn't working.
2. He had a really swollen eye,yeah he could see through it,but his nose was busted.
3. He really did not do much outside of very short bursts or fight back when Dubois put on the pressure.

He got his 2 knockdowns and I suppose that is what the referee was thinking that,there isa chance he could do it again or something.

Wardley could have beaten dubois in rounds 6-10 imo. But he just lacked Stamina,which is why Usyk beat Dubois.

 

Really reminiscent of Wilder. In fact the whole match at times put in mind of Fury, Wilder.

 

Well he took a beating from Huni and Parker too, but these guys just didn't hit as hard.

 

I 100% think where the bout should have been stopped was at the bell to start the 10th round, Wardley literally stumbled from his stool, be that fatigue, effect of Dubois punches or a combination, Wardleys motor skills were badly impaired.

We all know the boxers of old took and accepted immense lot of punishment, and often were back in the squared circle within days/weeks, however sadly so many ended their lives prematurely with neurological deficits as a result.

Boxers getting hit in the head is dangerous enough as it is, but when the boxer shows the outward signs of effect of cumulative head punches as Wardley did, then corner or ref should call a halt immediately.