Dubois destroys Wardley in round two to retain title

Daniel Dubois retained his WBO heavyweight title by stopping Fabio Wardley in the second round at London’s O2 Arena. The emphatic win reinforces Dubois’s position among Britain’s leading heavyweights and makes it two successive stoppage victories over Wardley.

Dubois floored Wardley with a straight right in the opening 20 seconds, then kept up the pressure until Wardley’s corner stopped the fight in round two. Their previous meeting, five months earlier, went 11 rounds, with Dubois recovering from two knockdowns to win. Dubois, 29, now has 24 professional wins, including 23 by knockout, and three defeats; Wardley, 31, has two defeats in 23 fights.