Wardley and Dubois' Duel Tension Heats Up Outside the Ring

Fabio Wardley quickly activated the rematch clause against Daniel Dubois (Instagram/@fabiowardley).

JAKARTA - The tension of the rematch between Fabio Wardley and world heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois is heating up outside the ring. This is because of the war of words between Mike Ofo as Wardley's manager and Sam Jones as Dubois' advisor.

It all started with Sam Jones' doubts about Wardley's decision to immediately activate the rematch clause after losing the fight in May 2026 in Manchester, England. The result made him lose the WBO heavyweight title (World Boxing Organization).

Jones said Wardley should not have been in a rush to invoke the rematch clause after he suffered a crushing defeat via stoppage or technical knockout (TKO) in the 11th round.

"I would do the same thing, but when you have such a big defeat, the situation can be dangerous. However, we will see what will happen later," said Jones, quoted from Sky Sports.

Wardley, who is from Ipswich, actually knocked out Dubois twice in the early rounds before being stopped on the ropes. It was his first defeat in 22 professional fights.

Winning a TKO in the first clash makes Sam even more optimistic about the opportunities that Dubois has. He is confident that the 28-year-old fighter will get another victory if the duel is repeated.

"In just over two weeks, we will know what Daniel will do, but if the opponent is Fabio Wardley, I imagine Daniel will beat him much faster this time," he said.

All that was said by Sam made Ofo also did not want to remain silent. He immediately gave a firm response by saying that the duel between Wardley and Dubois would still happen, whatever the situation.

"The assessment made by Jones has no weight and is more a reflection of his excessive ego than what actually happened," he said.

Ofo also denied Wardley suffered a serious injury in the first fight with Dubois and supported a rematch so his client had a chance to reclaim the heavyweight world title.

"Jones is just a ventriloquist's dummy for Stan Dubois, doing whatever he's told. He's only allowed to spout nonsense because he's not a boxing manager who has a license," he said.

The victory over Wardley brought Dubois back to the winning track after he previously lost a knockout (KO) against Oleksandr Usyk in the fight for the undisputed world champion status. It was the third defeat in his professional career.