Dubois and Wardley rematch for WBO heavyweight title on October 17

Daniel Dubois will defend his WBO heavyweight world title against the man he dethroned Fabio Wardley in a rematch on 17 October in London.

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 29: Fabio Wardley (L) and Daniel Dubois (R) pose for a photo with Frank Warren, Founder of Queensbury Promotions (C), after announcing a rematch of their heavyweight bout, scheduled for October 17th 2026, during the Moses Itauma and Filip Hrgovic: Natural Born Thriller fight night at The O2 Arena on August 29, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images) | Getty Images Queensberry Promotions announced a trio of main events for October, November, and December, starting with the WBO heavyweight title rematch between Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley on Saturday, October 17, at the O2 Arena in London. Also announced: Joshua Buatsi and Willy Hutchinson will also meet in a rematch, as the two light heavyweights clash again on November 7 in Manchester. Anthony Cacace will defend his WBA super featherweight title against former featherweight titleholder Nick Ball on December 19 in Belfast. All fights will stream on DAZN, with Dubois vs Wardley 2 likely a pay-per-view or Ultimate tier bout. Dubois vs Wardley 2 Dubois (23-3, 22 KO) and Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KO) got to meet up in the ring ahead of the Moses Itauma vs Filip Hrgovic main event today to announce their fight, with promoter Frank Warren handling that one himself. It’s the biggest of the three fights, and a rematch of a brutal heavyweight war that Dubois won by 11th round TKO on May 9 in Manchester. “It’ll be another dominant victory and amazing performance. I can’t wait. Yeah. Let’s get it on,” Dubois said with his typical level of charisma and excitement. Dubois was also asked if he’d try to avoid the mistakes he did make in the first fight, but as usual he showed no fear of the reality that it might be another hard-hitting, brutal fight. “When you get in the water, you’re gonna get wet,” he said. “I love every bit of it. I can’t wait for it. “The O2 is like a home away from home for me, so doing the fight back here will be special,” Wardley said. “I’m just looking forward to getting straight back into it. It’s going to be a rematch, and it’s going to be revenge. “We came into that fight with all the confidence in the world, but adjustments need to be made. And I’ve proven time and time again — you look at (my fights) with Frazer (Clarke), the adjustments I made, or the Justis Huni performance into the Joseph Parker performance. I’ve proven I’m adaptable and I can change. That’s what we need to do for this fight.” Dubois: “We’ll see. Give me some of that face-to-face shit, boy.” The two then gave each other “some of that face-to-face shit.” They really stared at each other like you wouldn’t believe. Buatsi vs Hutchinson 2 Buatsi (20-1, 13 KO) and Hutchinson (20-2, 14 KO) didn’t get the headlines of Dubois and Wardley for their September 2024 fight, but it was a competitive bout that Buatsi won by split decision. It wasn’t the most controversial fight in the world, but plenty felt Hutchinson deserved it despite being dropped twice and docked a point in the seventh round. The bout will be for the interim WBC 175 lb title this time. Buatsi didn’t sound all that enthused about running it back with Hutchinson, and pretty much admitted that without just blatantly saying it. “This is what was put in front of me. He said we were gonna run it back two years ago, so here we are, man,” Buatsi said. “Something’s at stake. If nothing was at stake, I wouldn’t be here.” “I’m very, very excited. This has took two years to get here, and now we’re here again,” Hutchinson said. “I told him two years ago after the fight, ‘I’m gonna get ya,’ and now we’re here. I’m gonna win. Simple.” Cacace vs Ball Cacace (25-1, 9 KO) will be defending the WBA 130 lb he won from Jazza Dickens on March 14, facing Ball (23-1-1, 13 KO), who lost the WBA featherweight title by TKO in the 12th round against Brandon Figueroa on February 7 in Liverpool. “Nick’s a great fighter, an ex-world champion, he’s beaten them all. I expect a good scrap. He’s a hard man. Let’s do it,” Cacace said, simple and plain. “It’s a massive opportunity at a new weight,” Ball said. “He’s a solid champion, it’s going to be a good fight.” What could be the best fight of the lot, and may have the best atmosphere, probably also has the two guys who came off the most soft-spoken and respectful of one another in these announcements. Like the fighters, I expect a heck of a battle between these two.

Daniel Dubois will defend his WBO heavyweight world title against the man he dethroned Fabio Wardley in a rematch on 17 October in London.

Dubois was twice knocked down by Wardley in their first meeting, but weathered the storm and dominated down the stretch to win the IBF heavyweight title.

Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley will face each other in a rematch of the heavyweight epic between the pair which took place earlier this year.