Boxing
Dubois stops Wardley in 11th round to take WBO heavyweight title
Daniel Dubois came back from two knockdowns to deal Fabio Wardley a brutal and bloody first defeat as a professional and take the WBO heavyweight title in a thunderous all-British clash on Saturday.
Referee Howard Foster finally stepped in at the start of the 11th round to signal the end of the fight, with Wardley bleeding heavily from the bridge of the nose and with his right eye almost closed.
Dubois rose twice from the canvas, including being dropped by a right hook in the first 10 seconds of the fight, to pulverise Wardley and become a world heavyweight champion for the second time in his career.
“It was a war. We came through the sticky moments. Thank you, Fabio, for that,” said Dubois, who was previously IBF champion after the belt was vacated by Oleksandr Usyk in 2024, with the Ukrainian winning it back in July 2025.
“What a great fight. What a great battle, man”.
The win was Dubois’s 23rd as a professional in 26 fights, while Wardley now has a 20-1-1 record.
Veteran promoter Frank Warren, who manages both men, said it was the best heavyweight fight he had ever put on and confirmed there was a rematch clause in the contract.
For some viewers, however, it was also an uncomfortable watch that could have been stopped earlier.
The 31-year-old Wardley, who was promoted to WBO champion last November after Usyk vacated the title, was making his first defence and showed immense heart as he took a tremendous beating yet refused to capitulate.
He had his opponent on the floor, a blow Dubois, 28, later dismissed as a ‘flash knockdown’, almost with the opening bell still sounding.
Dubois was back on one knee in round three but came close to a stoppage in the sixth with the reigning champion bleeding heavily and on the ropes.
The Londoner continued to land blow after blow on Wardley, who wobbled but refused to give up.
His corner inspected the facial wounds after the eighth, and doctors and the referee took a look in rounds nine and 10, but still the fight continued, with Wardley increasingly struggling to stay on his feet and fighting on instinct.
“You witnessed something special tonight,” Warren told the BBC. “Two men baring their hearts and souls in the ring gave everything, didn’t leave one bit outside the ring.
“They were getting hit with bombs that would take people out, and they stood it.”
-Reuters
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World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has backed Anthony Joshua to defeat Tyson Fury in their long‑anticipated clash later this year and has been helping him with his game plan.
Usyk, who holds the IBF, WBA and WBC belts, has been working with former opponent Joshua in recent months and said he has been impressed by the Briton’s development.
He added that 36-year-old Joshua deserves to beat compatriot and fellow ex-champion Fury, 37, after changing his approach.
“Fury is an unbelievable fighter, and Fury is a very dangerous guy, but I look at how Anthony works and how he has changed,” Usyk told the BBC.
“I like Fury, he is my greedy belly’s best friend, he’s an amazing fighter, but I want Anthony to win – he deserves it.”
Joshua, a former two‑time world heavyweight champion, is scheduled to return to the ring against Kristian Prenga in Riyadh on July 25. The bout will be his first since a car accident last December in which two close friends were killed.
Usyk said his recent work with Joshua has focused on technical and mental preparation.
“We speak about strategy, boxing skills and psychology. We speak about fights, our fights, and I say ‘champ, come on, don’t stop’,” he said.
The Ukrainian is set to defend his world titles against Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on May 23 in Egypt.
-Reuters
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- Summary
- *Joshua to face Kristian Prenga in Riyadh after car accident hiatus
- *Fight marks start of Joshua’s multi-fight deal in Saudi Arabia, announced by Turki Alalshikh
- *Promoter Hearn says Joshua vs Fury is signed for later in the year
Former world heavyweight boxing champions Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have signed up for a long-awaited clash later this year, promoter Eddie Hearn said on Monday.
“Signed, sealed, delivered! AJ v Fury is on!,” Hearn posted on Instagram.
The announcement came after confirmation that Joshua will return to the ring against Kristian Prenga in Riyadh on July 25 in the Briton’s first fight since he was in a car accident last December that killed two close friends.
U.S.-based Albanian Prenga, 35, is a former kickboxer with a ring record of 20 wins and one defeat since he turned professional in 2016.
The fight, billed as “The Comeback”, was announced by Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh and will be broadcast live worldwide on DAZN.
Turki also posted on X a message “to my friends in Great Britain – it’s happening. It’s signed” while his Ring Magazine said the fight would happen in Q4 2026 on Netflix.
SIXTH-ROUND KNOCKOUT
Joshua, 36, has a record of 28 wins and four losses with his most recent fight a sixth-round knockout of American Jake Paul on December 19 in Miami.
“It’s no secret I’ve taken some time to consolidate and rebuild to be ready for stepping back into the ring, and today is the next step on that journey,” said Joshua.
“I’m delighted to have agreed a multi-fight deal starting with July 25th in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I’m looking forward to competing and picking up where I left off. The landlord will collect his rent. That is certain.”
Hearn told Sky Sports television he wanted a “tune-up bout” in July before facing Fury potentially in November.
“July and November are the two dates that have been presented to us now and we expect to move forward,” he said. “Fury has just had his tune-up fight with 12 really vital rounds to get him sharp for the next one and I expect us to do the same.”
Fury called for a showdown with Joshua after he outclassed Russia’s Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 11.
“Next, I want to give you the fight you’ve all been waiting for. I want you AJ, Anthony Joshua, let’s give the fight fans what they want, the Battle of Britain,” he said then.
-Reuters
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Former boxing champion Oscar De La Hoya appeared before the U.S. Senate on Wednesday and argued against a potential transformation of the current system governed by the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act that, since 2000, has aimed to protect fighters from exploitative practices.
The hearing — titled “Return to Your Corners: Have Federal Boxing Laws Gone the Distance or Slipped the Jab?” — was held a month after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, which, if it becomes law, would allow for the creation of a single entity to combine promotion, rankings, titles and sanctioning under one roof.
“This is a fundamental power shift that, if enacted, would put corporate profits first and fighters second,” De La Hoya told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “We should be clear about who benefits from this.”
Thirty years ago, Congress set federal boxing standards by passing the Professional Boxing Safety Act. Four years later, Congress tightened those standards by enacting the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act. Together known as the Ali Act, the federal framework for professional boxing was designed to address conflicts of interest in the boxing market and strengthen boxers’ bargaining power.
Last month the House passed the Revival Act to make it easier for boxing to be organised in the same manner as other professional sports leagues.
‘FIGHTERS WILL HAVE FEWER CHOICES’
De La Hoya told the hearing that, like him, many fighters enter the sport young, trusting and without resources, and that once they are locked into the wrong deal, it is very difficult to get out. That is, he argued, exactly why the Reform Act exists.
“Fighters deserve real protection and real opportunity — not to have to fight the system as well,” said De La Hoya. “If this bill passes, fighters will have fewer choices, less leverage, and less control over their careers. And when that happens, it will not be the sport that failed them. It will be us.”
Nico Ali Walsh, a professional boxer and grandson of former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, also argued to preserve the current Reform Act.
Walsh told the hearing the Reform Act was built on a simple principle: the people controlling fighters should not also control the entire marketplace those fighters depend on.
“That separation exists to prevent conflicts of interest and exploitation,” said Walsh. “The new Muhammad Ali Boxing Revival Act would undermine that principle.
“If this bill is passed in its current form, it should not have my grandfather’s name on it, as it would betray the principles his Act was created to protect.”
WWE President and TKO Group board member Nick Khan spoke in support of the Revival Act, which would allow the creation of a new, centralised, alternative professional boxing system called Unified Boxing Organisations.
“The existing Act, as it currently stands, would remain in place,” said Khan. “This is an added option. It creates the framework for Unified Boxing Organisations, otherwise known as UBOs, that can do what major sports do — promote competition, develop talent, and enforce consistent standards under one roof.”
-Reuters
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