Fabio Wardley warned not to rush Daniel Dubois rematch

One former opponent of Wardley questioned whether the decision might have come too quickly.

“My immediate thought was that it was a bit of a hasty decision from emotion, and maybe he should just have a second mate, let yourself recover for a few weeks, then he and the team get together and have a calculated think about what’s next, but it’s done, it’s activated, and here we are and I respect that,” says Frazer Clarke on TalkSport.

“Like I said, I think everyone knows he needs to see that Fabio Wardley is well rested and 100% to go into that fight.”

The concern is understandable given the kind of struggles Wardley has gone through. Dubois took him down heavily during the second half of the match after surviving tough moments himself earlier in the fight.

Clarke also pointed out that Dubois may still have another level left despite the dramatic win.

“I think Daniel Dubois is actually better than he boxed last week. I think he’ll get better again because obviously he’s coming off the Usyk loss. There was a bit of low confidence and I think in those first few rounds it took him a bit of time to build into the fight,” says Clarke.

Spencer Oliver had a different take on Wardley’s decision to go straight back into another big fight with Dubois. He said the undefeated heavyweight has always viewed his career as a short-term run at the biggest fights possible.

“I wasn’t actually surprised that Fabio did that, that he activated that rematch clause, because that’s the kind of character he is,” Oliver said. “He says, ‘Look, I want to get in there. Give me that world title kind of game. Give me another crack.’

Oliver also warned against knocking Wardley out in a rematch despite the beating he took in the first fight.

“He can seriously pack a punch,” says Oliver. “While he has that punch, he always has a chance.”