Dubois (23-2, 22 KOs) brutally beat down and stopped WBO champion Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KOs) in the 11th round at Manchester's Co-Op Live Arena, but the Londoner overcame two early knockdowns before doing so.

Wardley put Dubois on his backside with the first punch he landed 15 seconds into the opening round. Dubois then took a knee in the third after Wardley landed a right on the side of his head.

Dubois steadied the ship in the fourth round but before the start of the fifth, trainer Don Charles gave him a meaty double slap — a moment which has since gone viral on social media.

Charles told The Ring: "[I did it] to wake him up, to remind him of his duties, his obligations, of what the task is. Wake up, and I think that woke him up ... and I've got heavy hands.

"Experience [was key]. You just have to stay calm and hopefully it will correct itself. When a plane goes to turbulence in the air, a good pilot will stay calm and steady the plane, that's what we have to do. Stay calm, steady the plane."

Dubois' win over Wardley was his first fight back since losing to Oleksandr Usyk for a second time last July at Wembley. After that defeat, Dubois left Charles for Essex-based Tony Sims before making a U-turn back to Charles' gym in Borehamwood.

Their partnership and connection only grew stronger after 11 brutal rounds of world championship action. It was also the furthest Dubois has been in a fight, having only been to the 10th round previously.

Question marks remained over Dubois and his supposed willingness to "quit" in fights, but Charles quashed those assertions before praising Wardley for his superhuman efforts in what will go down as a surefire Fight of the Year candidate.

"Any human being that questions [Dubois] ever again about the quitting thing, may thunder strike them," Charles said.

"I'm still trying to recover. I need my heart checked. What a magical epic fight between two warriors, two gladiators. There was no losers in there tonight, in my opinion ...  boxing won.

"Fabio ... I said to him after, 'they don't make men like you anymore.' They don't, [he's] a throwback. [He] really is. And so is Daniel, and boxing won because for the neutrals, whoa, that lived up to expectations."