It’s been 159 days since Fabio Wardley fought Daniel Dubois, and one would imagine Wardley could probably hear the bells ringing for the first few days after their bout.
He lost in the 11th round of a wildly bloody battle, even though he’d twice dropped Dubois, in the first and third sessions respectively.
Today, at the final press conference ahead of their Saturday return at the O2 Arena, Dubois looked bored to be there but ready to fight, and Wardley tried to convince the doubters that he was raring to go again, despite the beatdown he endured through the final third (or half!) of the first fight.
Asked about losing his unbeaten record in the previous fight, Wardley said: “The thought of it is worse than the reality… I was unlikely to get through this boxing game unscathed with an undefeated record, because I want to be in there with the best guys. And that puts you in the situation of jeopardy. I can right those wrongs. Now is the fun bit.”
Wardley claimed he’d been too overconfident in the first fight, and in the power he wields in his right hand. He promised to pick a better pace and fight round by round.
The problem is, there are many who believe his best and perhaps only chance is to come out gunning for the man who claimed the WBO heavyweight title from him in May in Manchester.
At least, he added, he was more relaxed in his familiar role as the underdog.
As one might imagine, Dubois didn’t have much to say.
“I’m feeling stronger, just grounded and ready to go out there and do my job,” he said. “Another one. Do this thing and move on to bigger and better things.”
It was left, on his side of the dais, to adviser Riz Khan and coach Don Charles to do most of the talking.
Khan predicted a stoppage before round five and pledged Dubois – “who was not 100 per cent last time” – would be stronger, fitter, sharper, leaner.
“We know Fabio is not fully healed from his injuries, that’s my opinion,” he claimed.
Charles reckoned Dubois answered a lot of questions about himself in the previous fight and predicted “a systematic breakdown of his opposition.”
Back with Team Wardley, manager Michael Ofo made it clear they would be looking to talk to the referee about the rough stuff, mentioning MMA and use of the head in the previous fight.
“I trust in the process Fabio’s taken and he’s in a better place than he was last time,” insisted Ofo.
“I think this will be familiar to the Frazer Clarke fight.”
That was to draw a parallel with Wardley having a terrifically hard battle with Clarke in their first bout before icing him in a round in the rematch.
For his part, Ofo said it wouldn’t go beyond six rounds.
Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren declared the initial bout was one of the best heavyweight fights he’d promoted, and there were only around 100 tickets left ahead of Saturday.
“It was edge-of-your-seat,” he said. “Your jaw dropped watching these guys give it everything.”
Warren predicted Saturday would be “equally exciting.”
“They’re going to be throwing their shots… letting the bombs go. It’s going to be bombs away. I just don’t see it going the distance at all. They’re KO machines, these guys.”
Warren said they would be looking to make unification fights for the winner.
“I’m sure that’s what they want. The winner of this will be looking to make big money next year… Every one of these shows involving these guys is selling out. I’m so excited about this fight. The first one, it took my breath away.”
But as ever at these events, some of the more interesting conversations took place away from the microphones.
Things I heard at the presser…
