Wardley absorbed an alarming amount of punishment during his 11th-round, technical-knockout loss to Dubois on May 9 at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. The brutality Wardley experienced in that spectacular slugfest didn’t deter the former WBO heavyweight champ from exercising his contractual right to an immediate rematch, which was officially announced by Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions on Saturday night for October 17 at O2 Arena in London.

The 31-year-old Wardley explained later Saturday night that the result of the first rematch of his career is the primary reason he is so confident he’ll come back just five months later to defeat Dubois. Wardley and British rival Frazer Clarke brawled to a 12-round split draw in March 2024, but Wardley stopped Clarke in the first round of their immediate rematch 6½ months later.

“I think that’s what’s most comfortable about this for me, is that I’ve done it before,” Wardley told DAZN’s broadcast team during a “Beyond The Bell” segment after Filip Hrgovic’s ninth-round TKO of Moses Itauma at O2 Arena. “I’ve had the 12-round war, and then gone into the fight again, made the adjustments and it’s been a completely different fight. So, I’ve already got the proven evidence, experience of me not getting it particularly right on the night.

“Obviously, with the Frazer I fight, it was a draw. With the Daniel fight, it was a loss, OK. But I still just didn’t get it right on the night. But I’ve proven to everyone and myself that I can go home, sit down, do the homework, adjust my game plan and come out on top.”

Wardley, of Ipswich, England, also draws confidence from dropping Dubois once apiece in the first and third rounds of their “Fight of the Year” candidate.

London’s Dubois, The Ring’s No. 1 contender for Oleksandr Usyk’s crown, recovered from those two knockdowns to batter the fourth-rated Wardley. Dubois, 28, led the previously unbeaten belt-holder by the same score on all three cards, 96-92, when referee Howard Foster halted their scheduled 12-round title fight 28 seconds into the 11th.

DAZN will stream the rematch between Dubois (23-3, 22 KOs) and Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KOs) on pay-per-view and to subscribers of its Ultimate plan, which costs £24.99 per month in the United Kingdom and $49.99 in the United States.