British heavyweight eyes up unification bouts after second-round KO in London

Show caption: Daniel Dubois celebrates after winning his WBO world heavywe…

Daniel Dubois ​retained his WBO heavyweight ​belt with a one-sided and devastating second-round stoppage of ⁠fellow Briton Fabio Wardley in their world title rematch on Saturday.

The 29-year-old ⁠champion made a storming start at London's O2 Arena and ​Wardley's legs went from under him for a count within 17 seconds of the opening bell as Dubois floored him ⁠with a straight right.

Wardley, 31, beat the count and could have been stopped at the end of the first round when he took a further brutal pounding on the ropes but was saved by the bell.

There was no escape from the onslaught of ⁠blows in the second with Dubois picking up where he left off and Wardley taking punch after punch ​until the ⁠towel was thrown in and referee Steve ‌Gray brought the fight to a close.

"Fabio is a great warrior, coming in for a second time, but it ​was my time and my era," said Dubois, never a man for long speeches. "I had my intentions, bad intentions, from the beginning.

"Our back was against the wall the first time, this time we just had to go out there and show that we mean business and that's what we did tonight."

Dubois dealt Wardley his first defeat as a professional when he came back from two knockdowns, the first after 16 seconds, to take the title in the 11th round of a thunderous and bloody clash in Manchester last May.

Wardley, promoted to WBO champion last November after Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title, was acclaimed for his courage and refusal to give in first time around but on Saturday he looked a shell of the man seen in Manchester.

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He now has a 20-2-1 record with Dubois on 24 wins with three defeats.

"I've always thrown myself in with the best competitors out there, ​the toughest, the biggest, hardest, meanest guys around. There's no shame in testing yourself ‌against the best," he said.

"Daniel's a testament to ⁠coming up short and coming again, I'll be looking ​to do the exact same thing.

"Boxing is a game of fine margins. It can be done ​and over in a ‌round or two or it can go into a big old war like it was last time."

Here are five options for his Dubois's next opponent:

1 Filip Hrgovic

The Croatian holds the IBF title after his win over Moses Itauma. In theory he must first defend it against Frank Sanchez, his mandatory challenger. Hrgovic lost to Dubois in 2024, but his appetite for a rematch was clear as he climbed into the ring at the O2 Arena on Saturday night.

2 Agit Kabayel

Kabayel holds the WBC title and is set to defend against Nelson Hysa next month. A unification against the Kurdish-German champion would make a lot of sense.

3 Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury winner

Fury and Joshua will finally fight in December, with the WBA title reported to be on the line. Whether the winner would have the hunger to fight again and face Dubois is another question.

4 Frank Sanchez

Should the Cuban beat Hrgovic then there's a strong chance he'd be lined up for Dubois.

5 Oleksandr Usyk

The Ukrainian has beaten Dubois twice, but why not have another crack at the number one guy in the division?