Dubois shakes off knockdowns and stops Wardley to win WBO heavyweight title

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Daniel Dubois showed up late, got knocked down early and still beat Fabio Wardley to become a two-time heavyweight champion on Saturday.

Dubois stopped Wardley in the 11th round to win the WBO heavyweight title at the Co-op Live arena after reportedly being delayed by traffic on his arrival.

Wardley dropped Dubois (23-3, 22 KOs) just 10 seconds into the bout with an overhand right, and again in the third round, but the former IBF champion rebounded both times and dominated from there by landing heavy rights that produced swelling and bleeding on Wardley’s face.

“I know I’ve got heart, bundles of heart, I’m a warrior in there,” said Dubois, whose resolve had been questioned in the past. “What a great fight, what a great battle. I’m No. 1 again.”

Wardley absorbed blow after blow without going down before referee Howard Foster halted the bout early in the 11th.

It’s the first professional loss for Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KOs). He was making his first title defense.

“He’s a durable guy… a great warrior,” Dubois said. “It was an honor to be in the ring with him.”

Dubois lost his IBF belt to Oleksandr Usyk via a fifth-round knockout at Wembley Stadium last July. It was his second loss to Usyk.

Dubois could be on a collision course with rising star Moses Itauma, who was ringside. WBO president Gustavo Olivieri has said after Itauma’s demolition of Jermaine Franklin he’ll recommend the British southpaw become the WBO mandatory challenger.

Frank Warren, the promoter for both Dubois and Wardley, said in the ring, however, that there’s a rematch clause in the contract.

Usyk holds the WBA, WBC and IBF belts. The 39-year-old Ukrainian’s next bout is against former kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

Chelli stuns Morrell on undercard

London light heavyweight Zak Chelli scored a big upset by stopping Cuban southpaw David Morrell in the 10th round. Chelli (17-3-1, 9 KOs) called out WBC light heavyweight champion David Benavidez, who also holds titles at cruiserweight. Morrell (12-2, 9 KOs) had gone the distance with Benavidez last year, losing on points after 12 rounds.

Jack Rafferty (27-0-1, 18 KOs) made a successful welterweight debut against 37-year-old Ekow Essuman (22-3, 8 KOs), whose corner retired their fighter after six rounds.

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AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing