He had just been stopped in the 11th round of a brutal clash at Manchester’s Co-Op LIVE Arena, losing his WBO heavyweight title. His face was a mess and the frustration of not capitalizing on two early knockdowns was already gnawing at him.

Given Dubois (23-3, 22 KOs) had been a voluntary defense of his title, the contract contained an immediate rematch clause. Some wondered whether Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KOs) would think twice about jumping straight back in with the Londoner, given how much punishment he sustained in the second half of the clash. But the Ipswich man knew instantly that he wanted revenge as quickly as possible.

Five months on from that night and 200 miles south at London’s O2 Arena, Wardley will get his chance to win back the title at the first time of asking. But Dubois, a two-time world heavyweight champion and The Ring's No. 1 heavyweight, insists Wardley, The Ring’s No. 5 contender, who “punches like a baby,” missed his chance of ever beating him when he failed to close the show in Manchester.

With Oleksandr Usyk nearing retirement and Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury busy with their own Battle of Britain in eight weeks’ time, Wardley and Dubois will run it back in what is a hugely important contest for the future of the division as a whole.

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Dubois: “I’ve definitely got his number after the first fight. I’ve felt his power and he’s got none. He punches like a baby, I didn’t feel anything. I’m ready for anything. I know he doesn’t punch so I’m just going to land my own punches and bring the pain. I'm going to beat him up easy. I'm going to break him up.”

Wardley: “Don't get me wrong, it's all fantastic being a world champion and holding that belt. I don't think it's necessarily just the fact that I was world champion but also having an undefeated record as well. But now I just feel free. The kind of talk around the fight has changed, too. I'm back to being expected to lose and I'm the challenger and I'm the chaser and honestly for me it all just feels like, 'Ah this is it.' It feels great.”

Wardley is the clear underdog and those who think he is capable of reclaiming his title from Dubois can get odds of around 4/1 (+400). This is a dramatic change from their first fight, when Wardley went off as a slight favorite at 4/5 (-125). This time, Dubois is a significant favorite in the fight and is available at 1/3 (-300).

Wardley has drawn a fight before, of course, when he faced Frazer Clarke for the first time in March 2024. Anyone bold enough to back that result this time can enjoy odds of 25/1 (+2500).

The only other 12-round fight on the card comes at lightweight where Louie O’Doherty (12-0, 3 KOs) defends his British and Commonwealth titles against Manchester’s entertaining Michael Gomez (23-2, 8 KOs).

There is also more heavyweight interest down the bill as Uzbekistan’s double Olympic champion Bakhodir Jalolov (17-0, 15 KOs) faces Britain’s Sol Dacres (10-1, 3 KOs) over 10 rounds in his second fight since signing terms with Queensberry.