The British heavyweights will meet at a sold out Co-op Live Arena, headlining a Queensberry show streamed exclusively on DAZN Pay-Per-View and to subscribers of DAZN’s Ultimate plan.

It is six months since Wardley won the WBO interim title with a dramatic 11th-round stoppage of Joseph Parker. Weeks later, he was upgraded to full champion when Oleksandr Usyk chose to relinquish his WBO title rather than face the 31-year-old Ipswich puncher.

Rather than opting for a safe first defense, The Ring's No. 1-ranked heavyweight chose to build on the momentum he has generated by taking on the explosive Dubois.

“The thing is, I treat all of my fights like they’re a world title fight because – especially in this division – it takes one punch to change the whole trajectory of your career," Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) said at their final press conference Thursday. “You could be up, you could be down all very quickly, so all of my fights were the biggest fights of my career going into them.”

“This is another one on the list. I’m used to throwing myself in the deep end, used to picking the biggest, the toughest, whoever is out there, the best fight for me and this is no different.”

Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs), The Ring’s No. 4-rated heavyweight, has spent the week at the end of his tether, but used his final media obligation of a long buildup to voice his opinion that he feels Wardley disrespected him during the promotion, suggesting Wardley would be a dustman if he wasn’t a professional fighter.

"I’m going to collect that trash,” Dubois said. “It’s disrespect, so I’m going to put it right in the ring, boy. I heard what you said. I’m going to bust his bubble anyway. That’s what I’m going to do.”

The 28-year-old Londoner hasn’t boxed since losing his IBF heavyweight title against Usyk in their July rematch, but he jumped at the chance to plunge right back into the deep end against the dangerous Wardley. He kept things characteristically short when asked what he feels will happen Saturday night.

“A win by any means necessary,” Dubois said. “No doubts. I’m here for business. Let’s fight.”

The amiable Wardley is able to avoid switching to fight mode until the first bell is much closer. With a dangerous first defense of his title rapidly approaching, the 31-year-old confidently held court.

It is widely expected that the fight will quickly develop into an all out shootout.

Both men have the courage and power to hold their feet in front of another big puncher. While Wardley’s resilience and willingness to fight through discomfort are well established, there are question marks over Dubois’ ability to weather the inevitable storm if he doesn’t get off first.

“I believe that irrespective of pedigree, history, experience, I believe that I can beat him regardless,” Wardley said. “Losing a round, losing all the rounds, it doesn’t matter what’s going on in the fight, that faith, that belief in me is unwavering. It doesn’t matter what circumstance happened before, what's been going on in the fight, I’ll always have 100 percent confidence that I can get my opponent out of there and get the win like I’ve proven time and time again.”

Wardley has rarely had an easy night during his rise through the ranks. He will have come to peace with the idea of pushing himself to the very limit yet again against Dubois and is confident that he will end matters in conclusive fashion.

“He is getting knocked out. I’ve done it to 95 percent of my opponents and he’s just another on the list for me,” Wardley said. “I’m getting him out of there.”