The former WBO heavyweight champion dropped Dubois with a sweeping right hand just 10 seconds into their title fight May 9 at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. Wardley seemed well on his way to a knockout victory after a clubbing right to the side of Dubois’ head made the challenger take a knee with 1:45 to go in the third round.

Somehow, however, a determined Dubois remained composed enough to mount an epic comeback that led to the London native becoming a two-time champion. He withstood Wardley’s strong start and battered his previously unbeaten, durable opponent until referee Howard Foster finally halted what devolved into a brutal beating during the 11th round of their “Fight of the Year” frontrunner.

Wardley acknowledged Dubois’ resilience and power, but more than anything, he attributes his lone loss to his own inability to stick to his game plan after hurting the dangerous Dubois.

Ipswich’s Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KOs) expects to rock Dubois (23-3, 22 KOs) again in the early rounds of their rematch October 17 at O2 Arena in London. This time, though, Wardley is confident he’ll finish the job.

“Yeah, look, I’ve not made a career out of going to points,” Wardley told Dubois during DAZN’s “Face Off” segment moderated by Ade Oladipo.

“I’ve made a career out of finishing fights before the bell, not needing judges. And I had it done almost in the first round of our first fight, almost in the third round of our fight. So we’re gonna go back to the drawing board, pick apart those moments, pick apart you stylistically, what worked, what didn’t work, and within the first quarter of the fight you’ll be gone, you’ll be outta there.”

Dubois retorted that he’ll be the one to end their second fight within three rounds.

“You can’t steal my line,” Wardley playfully yelled at Dubois. “You’ve gotta get your own!”

When Wardley asked Dubois to predict the round in which he believes he’ll win by knockout, the 28-year-old champion declined. His confidence notwithstanding, Wardley understands the potential problems he could encounter next month in a highly anticipated rematch some skeptics think he has taken too soon after absorbing so much punishment in their first fight.

“It’s the heavyweight game, anything can happen,” Wardley said. “He was down in the first 10 seconds of round one. Anything can happen. And that’s not a slight. I’m just saying this is heavyweight boxing. That could’ve been me gone in the first 10 seconds. Who knows?”

Dubois is more than a 4-1 favorite to defeat Wardley, according to DraftKings. DAZN will stream their 12-round rematch globally either on pay-per-view or for no additional charge to subscribers of its monthly Ultimate plan.