Wardley promises to avenge previous loss after weighing in at career high

Heavyweight challenger Fabio Wardley predicted he would take his revenge in knockout fashion after weighing in heavier than ever for a title rematch with WBO world champion Daniel Dubois in yesterday’s all-British bout at London’s O2 Arena.

Dubois, 29, was at a career heaviest at ​253.9 pounds (115kg), with Wardley, 31, tipping the scales at 248.3 (112kg).

Their previous fight in Manchester last May ended at the start of the 11th round when the referee stepped in. Wardley, making his first defence, was bleeding heavily from the bridge of his nose and with his right eye almost closed.

Dubois rose twice from the canvas in that fight, including being dropped by a right hook in the first 10 seconds to become heavyweight world champion for the second time in his career.

“It’s seek and destroy now. I draw confidence from the successes I had in the first fight — getting knockdowns in the first and third,” said Wardley at Friday’s weigh-in at Spitalfields Market, predicting “revenge, Fabio Wardley, knockout win”.

Ready to go to war

Dubois said he knew what to expect and was “ready to go to war”, adding: “I need to get through this to get to bigger things.”

The champion has a record of 23 wins with three losses from 26 fights, while Wardley is 20-1-1.

Meanwhile, American Brandon Figueroa has been stripped of his WBA featherweight title after hitting the scales 1.4 pounds over the 126-pound weight limit for yesterday’s fight against Tomoki Kameda of Japan, organisers said on Friday.

Figueroa withdrew from the fight late yesterday after falling very ill from the effects of the weight cut, forcing organisers to cancel the matchup entirely

Kameda, 35, would have been able to clinch the vacant title if he won the fight. “Honestly, it’s disrespectful, because I’m here; I suffered too. I did my thing. I’m ready for tomorrow,” Kameda said, speaking via a translator.

“It has been 18 months since I fought, but look at me; look how shredded I am. You know I’m ready.”

Figueroa, 29, clinched the featherweight title in February after beating Briton Nick Ball in Liverpool.