Main Event · Heavyweight · 12 Rounds · WBO World Title
DuboisLands on Wardley · Co-op Live, Manchester · May 9, 2026
WardleyStands over a downed Dubois · Co-op Live, Manchester · May 9, 2026
Who Owns
The Window
Wardley dropped Dubois at 0:10 of round 1 and again in round 3, then lost the fight to everything that came after, so the rematch comes down to whether Wardley can hold that early window open past round three or whether Dubois, with changes his corner will not describe, can close it before it opens.
23-3 · 22 KOs
WBO Champion
Age29
Height6'5"
Reach78"
StanceOrthodox
BaseGreenwich, London
Weigh-In253 lb 9 oz
Stoppage Rate96% (22/23)
StyleHeavy Jab · Power
VS
Odds
DUBOIS 3/10
WARDLEY 16/5
20-1-1 · 19 KOs
Challenger · Rematch Clause
Age31
Height6'5"
Reach78"
StanceOrthodox
BaseIpswich
Weigh-In248 lb 3 oz
Stoppage Rate95% (19/20)
StyleOverhand Right · Early Power
Stoppage rate is knockouts divided by wins. Records, KO counts, heights, reaches and bases per BoxRec; odds per secondary sources; weigh-in weights per BBC.
Dubois vs. Wardley II · Saturday, October 17, 2026 · 2 PM ET Main Card (7 PM BST) · DAZN Pay-Per-View (US $59.99) · DAZN (UK £24.99)
⚑ Blotter Flag · Narrative Spine
The first fight was two fights in one: Wardley's early power, then Dubois's long control until referee Howard Foster stepped in during round 11. The rematch is about which half repeats.
Ten Seconds, Then Eleven Rounds
Dubois took the WBO belt from Wardley on May 9 and makes his first defense against the man who dropped him twice. Wardley invoked his rematch clause within days.
Dubois is 23-3 (22 KOs), a 96% stoppage rate, and the losses are the part of the résumé nobody skips. Joyce stopped him in round 10 in 2020 and broke his orbital. Usyk finished him in round 9 in 2023 and round 5 in 2025. He has had four trainers. Don Charles took over in 2023, split with him in August 2025, Tony Sims followed, and Charles returned in January 2026. Advisor Sam Jones left on August 4, 2026.
Wardley is 20-1-1 (19 KOs), a 95% stoppage rate, with no amateur bouts and four white-collar wins behind him. He drew with Clarke over twelve (split decision, March 2024), stopped Clarke in round 1 of the rematch, stopped Huni in round 10 in June 2025 while behind, and stopped Parker in round 11 in October 2025. Ben Davison is his head trainer, with Robert Hodgins as co-trainer.
The tape is a mirror: same height, reach and stance. What separates them is weight and age. Both made weight at career highs for the rematch, per BBC, and Wardley is up about six pounds from the first fight while Dubois is up about two.
The Blotter's inference, labeled as one: Wardley trailed through the middle rounds against technical boxers (Huni, Clarke in the first fight, and Dubois). The cause is unresolved. It could be heavy early output, cumulative damage to the nose and eyes, or conditioning. Wardley said himself that he had two clear chances to finish early and got too comfortable (Sportsnaut). Dubois claimed Wardley was overweight and under-trained, and Wardley called that "bizarre." Treat all of it as claims, not findings.
Daniel Dubois
MODERATE
Round 9 and later against Usyk (KO9, loss), Joyce (KO10, loss), Miller (TKO10, win) and Wardley (TKO11, win). He has been deep four times and split them, two stoppage losses and two stoppage wins.
Fabio Wardley
MODERATE
Clarke (SD12, draw), Huni (KO10, win), Parker (TKO11, win) and Dubois (TKO11, loss). He has finished fights late and faded late, and both are on the tape. Neither man has a clean twelve-round win in the bank.
Daniel Dubois
TIER II
Got up from three first-round knockdowns against Lerena and won (December 2022), and from two against Wardley and won (May 2026). He was also stopped when hurt by elite power, by Joyce and twice by Usyk.
Fabio Wardley
TIER II
Stopped Huni in round 10 while behind (June 2025). He has yet to show how he handles a long fight against a man who is winning the rounds.
How This Gets Scored
Decision Risk: LOW
Both men finish fights (96% and 95%), so the cards are the unlikely outcome. If it gets there, the knockdown rounds would normally score for the man who landed them, and the middle rounds decide the rest. Dubois won rounds 2 and 4 through 6 in the first fight.
Referee and judges: not announced as of October 16, 2026 (BoxingWire, Yahoo Sports). Howard Foster refereed the first fight and is not confirmed for the rematch. Pre-fight official lists are provisional until the assignments are posted.
Score it yourself: who won rounds 7 through 10 of the first fight? Your answer tells you more about the rematch than the knockdowns do.
📋 Amateur Thread — Dubois and Dacres
Dubois had about 75 amateur bouts in the Great Britain Elite system. In December 2016 he outpointed Solomon Dacres in a Great Britain championship final in Sheffield. Dacres is on this card, in the Jalolov bout. Wardley has no amateur bouts: four white-collar wins and then the pros.
Blotter Call · Main Event · Lean
DUBOIS — STOPPAGE
Wardley has been stopped once in his career, by Dubois in round 11. The jab and the middle rounds favor Dubois. The upset is live if Wardley lands early again, and the call changes if Dubois is hurt in the first three rounds and slow to settle.
Louie O'Doherty · Crisis Execution
UNVERIFIED
BoxRec shows twelve wins, no losses and no draws, and two twelve-round decisions (Khoumari, Hatim). A result line does not show whether he was ever truly hurt, and no tape was reviewed, so the rating stays unverified.
Michael Gomez Jr. · Crisis Execution
UNVERIFIED
BoxRec shows he was stopped on the stool after ten rounds by Bellotti in February 2025 (RTD10), his only stoppage loss. The record does not show how he was hurt, and no tape was reviewed, so the rating stays unverified.
12-0 · 3 KOs · Halstead, Essex
25% stoppage rate (3/12) · Odds 8/15 · English title by his tenth fight, British title by stopping the unbeaten Glackin in round 10 (October 2025), then retained it and added the Commonwealth belt over the unbeaten Hatim (UD12, 119-109, 118-110 twice, May 16, 2026) · Trainer and manager Gordon Charlesworth · National amateur champion
vs
23-2 · 8 KOs · Manchester
35% stoppage rate (8/23) · Odds 9/4 · Age 31 · Son of Michael Gomez Snr · Former British super featherweight champion · Stopped by retirement after ten rounds by Bellotti in February 2025, then a 13-month layoff · At lightweight he stopped Flynn (round 3, March 28) and McGregor (round 6, May 16)
A champion with a modest stoppage rate against a puncher moving up in weight. O'Doherty has gone twelve twice, against Khoumari and Hatim, and won both on the cards. Gomez has stopped Flynn and McGregor since his return, but his career rate is 35%, and the question is whether that power travels against a champion who controls the pace.
Blotter Call
O'DOHERTY — DECISION
Twelve rounds of control over a power puncher's early spurts. The call changes if Gomez lands clean in the first four rounds.
The Blotter Spotlight — Jalolov
JalolovWith his Olympic gold medal · Paris, 2024
⚡ Scout's Chair — The Fighter You Need to Know
BAKHODIR JALOLOV
17-0 · 15 KOs · Sariosiyo, Uzbekistan · 32 · Southpaw · 6'7" · 81" Reach
Jalolov is the most decorated amateur on the card. He won Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020, beating Richard Torrez Jr. by unanimous decision in the final, and again at Paris 2024. He is a two-time world champion (2019 and 2023) and a three-time Asian champion (2017, 2019, 2021). The Ring's 2021 profile put his amateur record at 247-17. He turned pro in 2018 and has seven first-round knockouts.
The pro side is thinner than the résumé. He is 17-0 with 15 KOs, an 88% stoppage rate (15/17). He returned to pro boxing in April 2025 with a ten-round decision over Shevadzutskyi, his first fight to go the distance, then beat Kudukhov (UD8, October 2025) and Smakici (RTD7, May 9, 2026). The Ring says he has boxed nobody near the heavyweight top 50, and the WBO and IBF both rank him in their top 10. Under the Blotter's amateur-verification standard (see Rules Referenced), pedigree alone earns a flag, and the pro thesis is unproven.
Behind him sits a pipeline. Uzbekistan is Central Asian, not Eastern European, though its amateur system descends from Soviet-style programs. Under Part Thirteen, the Blotter's Fighter Origins Framework, it is treated as a closed system: results inside it say little about the world outside. The country won 5 of the 7 men's gold medals at Paris 2024 (TSS). Queensberry has signed Muydinkhujaev and Ummataliev, and that batch has been slow to rise (Bad Left Hook). The question for readers is whether the pipeline produces professionals or champions nobody has yet tested.
17-0 · 15 KOs · Sariosiyo, Uzbekistan
88% stoppage rate (15/17) · Southpaw · 32 · Ranked in the top 10 by the WBO and IBF
vs
10-1 · 3 KOs
30% stoppage rate (3/10) · Stopped in round 1 by Adeleye (December 2024) · Unanimous decision over the unbeaten Sirenko (22-0, July 2025) · Inactive since, 15 months
Jalolov has the size, the reach and the southpaw angle, and he has gone ten rounds once, against Shevadzutskyi. Dacres has gone ten rounds four times. The Blotter is watching the first minute: can Dacres make him work, and can Jalolov finish?
Blotter Call
JALOLOV — STOPPAGE
The call changes if Dacres survives the first three rounds.
The Undercard — Fighters to Find
A Queensberry card behind a heavyweight title: prospects with unbeaten records and short fights against unproven opposition. Records below are per secondary sources and were not checked on BoxRec. No Calls on the undercard.
Nelson Birchall
12-0 · 9 KOs · Morecambe
75% stoppage rate (9/12)
vs
Levi Giles
17-3-1 · 4 KOs
24% stoppage rate (4/17)
The unbeaten puncher steps up to ten rounds against a veteran with 17 wins. Birchall has stopped 9 of 12; Giles has four knockouts in 17 wins. The Blotter is watching whether the power holds past round six against a man who lost his unbeaten record to Michael Gomez Jr. on a split decision in 2023.
Tony Curtis
14-1 · 3 KOs
21% stoppage rate (3/14)
vs
Kerim Agius
Record not verified
Secondary sources conflict, so no record is printed
Curtis has three knockouts in 14 wins, so this looks like a distance fight. The Blotter could not verify Agius's record and is watching how Curtis works against an unknown.
Leighton Birchall
5-0 · 3 KOs · Morecambe
60% stoppage rate (3/5)
vs
Alejandro Morales Chazaro
Record not verified
Not checked on BoxRec
Nelson Birchall's brother (Beyond Radio), five fights in with three stoppages. The Blotter is watching how he handles an opponent whose record it could not verify.
Adam Olaniyan
4-0 · 4 KOs
100% stoppage rate (4/4) · Signed by Queensberry as an amateur heavyweight standout (The Ring)
vs
Dan Garber
14-9 · 2 KOs
14% stoppage rate (2/14) · Weighed in at 223 lb 15 oz against Olaniyan's 250 lb 15 oz (British Boxing News)
Four fights, four knockouts, and a four-rounder on a heavyweight title card. The Blotter is watching whether the knockouts continue against a heavyweight with nine losses and two knockouts, who is giving away about 27 pounds.
Also on the card: Manny Safari vs. Jake Pollard (featherweights, 6 rounds) · Fawas Aborode vs. Rashid Omar (lightweights, 6) · Aaron Noriega vs. Leonardo Baez (super featherweights, 4) · Zayn Ahmed vs. Kasey Bradnum (super featherweights, 4) · Isiah Hamilton-Allen vs. Jensen Irving (4). Records for these bouts were not verified and are not printed.
Prospect Watch — Card Monitor
Prospect Watch · FLAGGED · Heavyweight
17-0 · 15 KOs · Heavyweight · Sariosiyo, Uzbekistan · 32 · Southpaw
The pedigree is the highest on the card and the pro evidence is the thinnest. The Spotlight above has the detail.
Status: FLAGGED · Evaluation condition: how he handles Dacres, who has been out for over a year · Threshold: a win over an opponent from the heavyweight top 50, the level he has not yet faced
Next on Radar · Heavyweight
Adam Olaniyan
4-0 with 4 KOs, signed by Queensberry out of the amateur ranks (The Ring). He fights Dan Garber over four rounds. A formal Prospect Watch entry would take a win over an opponent with a verified winning record, not another four-round stoppage.
Rule 46 · Fighter Environment
Environment Analysis · The O2
Dubois: London is home turf for a Greenwich fighter, after the first fight in Manchester. The crowd leans toward him, per Blotter judgment (no attendance data cited).
Wardley: Ipswich is in the same country, but this is a road fight in front of Dubois's city, per Blotter judgment. He kept Ben Davison and changed his camp routine for the rematch: away during the week, home on weekends.
Rules Referenced
Rule 46 · Fighter Environment Standard. Every main-event and co-main fighter gets an assessment of five variables: trainer, promotional situation, management, broadcast platform and camp signals. It is a narrative flag system, not a checklist; only the variables live for this fight are written up.
Rule 34 and the amateur-verification standard. An amateur claim must be verified before it is used. Amateur pedigree alone earns a fighter a Flag. It does not earn a place among the proven prospects; the professional record has to do that.
Part Thirteen · Fighter Origins Framework. A lens for how a fighter's training background affects the matchup. Origin is context, not conclusion. A closed system is a state-backed national program with central coaching (the Uzbek pipeline is one), so results inside it say little about the world outside it.
FLAGGED. The Prospect Watch status for a fighter whose amateur pedigree is strong but whose professional evidence is not yet proven.
Rule 74 · Stoppage Rate. Knockouts divided by wins, with the method shown beside the percentage, for example 96% (22/23).
Rule 88 and UNVERIFIED. Co-main fighters get a Crisis Execution Rating just as the main event does, which grades how a fighter performs when hurt. When no tape has been reviewed and only records exist, the rating is marked UNVERIFIED rather than guessed.
Rule 48 · BoxRec Links. A fighter links to BoxRec only when the profile ID has been verified from the page itself. A wrong link is worse than no link.
Source Notes
Records, KO counts, bout histories, heights, reaches and bases for Dubois, Wardley, O'Doherty and Gomez Jr. come from their BoxRec pages (profile IDs 787430, 785893, 902524 and 691026), Dacres's full bout list (profile ID 850264), and Jalolov's 17-0 record with 15 KOs over 60 rounds from his BoxRec page header. Jalolov's full bout list comes from Wikipedia and its 60 total rounds match BoxRec's. Garber's record and the weigh-in weights (pounds and ounces) come from FightMag and British Boxing News. Everything else, including the details of title wins and judges' scores, Jalolov's bout details, the undercard records, and odds, comes from secondary sources (Wikipedia, BBC, Boxing News, The Ring, DAZN, Yahoo Sports, BoxingWire, FightMag, Sportsnaut, Bad Left Hook, TSS). CompuBox: no sourced figures are printed, because the first-fight numbers in circulation carry no named source. Sources disagree on the exact time of the round-11 stoppage, so none is printed. Mandatory-challenger status is unconfirmed and is not stated. Start times and prices are per BoxingWire; the DAZN and Queensberry listings were not retrieved. BoxRec links appear for the fighters whose profile ID came from BoxRec itself. Jalolov's ID (834487) comes from his BoxRec wiki page, and his profile page could not be loaded to confirm it because BoxRec was rate-limiting. The undercard fighters are unlinked.