‘It’s a blood sport’ – Daniel Dubois fears rival Fabio Wardley is gambling with his life in rematch fight

DANIEL DUBOIS fears Fabio Wardley is gambling with his life in their rematch.

The 29-year-old WBO heavyweight champion of the world is not trash-talking or threatening his fellow Englishman.

Dubois did not celebrate after obliterating in 2024 and he did not brag about

The father-of-one, dominated by his drillmaster dad and humbled by defeats to Joe Joyce and Oleksandr Usyk.

Five months ago he even had to get off the deck twice following a dream start for 31-year-old Wardley.

He knows a quick turnaround rematch is the only ace left in Wardley’s heavy hand — and he genuinely cares that his brother-in- arms gets out safely.

On Sun Boxing’s In Camp With video, Dubois said: “He has no choice. He probably thinks he has nowhere else to go. It’s a world title fight and he wants to make money — like us all.

“He was never going to turn it down. He’s going to take another gamble.

“Fabio is gambling with his health, his life, like we all do. We are prize fighters. This is a sport, but it’s a blood sport.”

A trademark looping Wardley right hand clipped Dubois around the temple after just nine seconds of their Manchester classic.

And an identical dig in the third round sent him back to the canvas.

But trainer Don Charles gave his charge a slap around the chops before the fifth.

And the next six rounds were hard to watch as Wardley’s right eye was bludgeoned shut and his nose collapsed into a bloody mess, with a stoppage called in the 11th round.

Almost every fighter can recover from a flash knockdown.

But the prolonged punishment that Wardley took — having only taken up boxing nine years ago after a past life working in an office — will have altered the very fabric of his being.

Dubois said: “Every fight changes you. Every fight takes a bit out of you. Every time you get in that ring, it takes a little bit out of you.

“I have to build up this amount of energy and intensity so that I’m just a monster in there.

“Boxing is a unique sport — it’s not even really a sport.”

The rivals are very similar physically and both have demonstrated their punching power. Dubois has won 23 of his 26 fights, while Wardley’s May defeat was his first in 22 fights.

Dubois has probably fought at a higher level, with his record including that beating of Joshua just over two years ago.

Anyone who watched the last couple of rounds of this pair’s first meeting should feel a little guilty about the suffering Wardley endured for their enjoyment.

His trainer Ben Davison and referee Howard Foster both came under

But Wardley rightly points out that he was still landing flush and heavy uppercuts as late as round 10.

And Dubois seems resigned to the fact that he has to inflict that sort of savagery again — perhaps even quicker and more brutally.

He explained “He took a beating, didn’t he? He took a beating.

“But if his team wants to sit there at ringside and watch him take another beating then I can only go out there and do my job.”

The thoroughly likeable pair first met in 2017, when they sparred at Canning Town’s Peacock Gym as a couple of fresh-faced unknowns.

Now they have millions of pounds in the bank, luxury homes, children and three world title runs between them.

But they carry the physical and psychological scars of the hurt business too — one that turns budding possible friendships into bloody rivalries.

Dubois added: “There’s no friends in boxing. After the fight, we can consider it. But before the fight, there’s no friends.

“It’s either me or him, that’s my mindset. We’ve all sparred each other, all of us — it goes around in circles.

“But then we have to try to damage each other for a certain amount of rounds and then life goes on. That’s prize fighting.”