Fabio Wardley’s coach Ben Davison has explained why he didn’t throw in the towel on Saturday, as his boxer was stopped by Daniel Dubois in Manchester.
Wardley dropped Dubois twice in the first three rounds, but the challenger climbed off the canvas both times to stop the WBO heavyweight champion in round 11, handing Wardley his first loss.
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In fact, after the early knockdowns, Dubois gradually took over the fight and dealt Wardley clear damage, with some fans and pundits feeling that the bout could have been stopped sooner.
Wardley was checked by a ringside doctor and referee Howard Foster at the start of rounds nine and 10, and the action was allowed to continue both times, to the audible delight of many fans in the Co-op Live arena.
“Most importantly Fabio is Ok,” Davison wrote on his Instagram story on Sunday. “On last night – Firstly congrats to Dubois. 2 tremendous warriors in a modern day classic. We are super proud of Fabio.
“I actually agree the fight could of [sic] been stopped earlier. I did not see Fabio stumble before walking over to the doctor at the start of round 10 as ironically we was discussing with eachother [sic] to ‘have the towel in hand’, by which time he had gone over and seen the doctor and seemed much steadier on his legs which is what we saw.
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“It’s such a difficult job to not only find a balance but to strike at the right time to stop a fight like that at a whim when your guy is responsive and firing back.”
Dubois (left) weathered the early onslaught and established some rhythm (Richard Sellers/PA) (PA Wire)
Davison then referenced his history coaching Tyson Fury and Leigh Wood, saying: “I’ve been praised for not towelling fury [against Deonay Wilder]. I was praised for not towelling wood [against Michael Conlan]. I was first criticised then later praised for towelling Wood [against Mauricio Lara].”
Under Davison’s guidance, Fury twice climbed off the canvas to draw with Wilder in 2018, while Wood knocked out Conlan late in their 2022 fight but lost to Lara in 2023 – before winning their rematch.
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“2 occasions we looked at it,” Davison continued, discussing Saturday’s fight, “but 1. the end of the round came. 2. Fabio fired back and killed Dubois’ momentum.
“Again very difficult in the circumstances of the fighter being responsive and firing back. I’ve seen mixed opinions on this one but I agree it COULD of [sic] been stopped earlier.
Wardley dropped Dubois twice in the first three rounds in Manchester (Reuters)
“However with that said, I think [referee] Howard Foster got it bang on from his terms.”
It is also worth noting that Wardley has a recent history of producing late stoppage wins. In 2025, the 31-year-old stopped Justis Huni in round 10 and Joseph Parker in round 11 while trailing in both bouts.
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Wardley’s victory over Parker in October secured him the WBO interim belt, which was upgraded in November when Oleksandr Usyk vacated the official title.
In winning the WBO strap on Saturday, Dubois became a two-time world champion, having previously held the IBF title from 2024 until 2025. Usyk’s second stoppage of the 28-year-old, last July, ended Dubois’s IBF reign.
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