Fabio Wardley believes Daniel Dubois faces the greater pressure in their rematch, with the champion needing to repeat his victory against a challenger who believes he has corrected the mistakes that cost him their first fight.
Dubois recovered from two early knockdowns to win. Wardley admits he became overconfident after that success, giving the champion an opportunity to recover. If Wardley avoids those mistakes, Dubois could face a different task this time.
“I think that for me, like again, it’s something Daniel’s gone through, but now he’s got three losses on his record,” Wardley told Fight Wire. “Two of those to Oleksandr Usyk, so you chalk them up a bit differently.”
Wardley argues that another defeat would put Dubois in a difficult position, while he views his own first loss as something he can repair.
“It just frees me up. It’s okay, we had a loss. Things didn’t go too great. Not the end of the world,” he said.
The pressure on Dubois goes beyond the number of defeats. He needs to demonstrate that his previous victory was repeatable, rather than a result that depended on Wardley getting careless after putting him down twice.
Wardley believes he has identified how he let that opportunity slip. Better decisions could leave Dubois with fewer chances to recover, although maintaining pressure without wasting energy or walking into punches will require more than determination.
“There’s a few adjustments to be made, a few things we need to capitalize on better, and then the fight’s ours,” Wardley said.
Dubois proved he could beat Wardley that night. Whether he can handle a more disciplined version remains unanswered. Wardley still has to deliver those improvements under fire, but the champion cannot assume the same openings will appear again.
Wardley also questioned Dubois’s conflicting comments about his punching power, suggesting some of his opponent’s remarks sound rehearsed.
“Especially when the camera comes out, some of the lines you can very much tell are forced, or they’ve at least been told to him to put in there,” he said.
The verbal sparring adds to Wardley’s portrayal of himself as the more relaxed fighter. Dubois’s harder task is showing that he has answers for the changes Wardley brings into the ring.
