Fabio Wardley is not supposed to be here again so soon.
Not, at least, according to those who watched him endure 11 gruelling rounds against Daniel Dubois in Manchester in May. Not according to those who questioned whether his corner should have pulled him out earlier, as his face became increasingly battered and his right eye swelled shut. And certainly not according to those who believe the punishment he absorbed makes a rematch a risk too far.
But Wardley has never been one to follow the script.
When the 31-year-old first faced Dubois, 29, he did so as the WBO heavyweight champion. He dropped his opponent twice in the opening three rounds, threatening to produce one of the biggest victories of his career before Dubois fought his way back into the contest and eventually stopped him in the 11th.
Now, with the WBO title back on the line, Wardley finds himself in more familiar territory in one respect: he is the challenger, the underdog and the man many expect to lose again.
And, as he explains when we sit down ahead of the rematch, he rather likes it that way.
Fabio Wardley is not supposed to be here again so soon but he’s never one to follow the script
Dubois (right) and Wardley (left) will go toe-to-toe for a second time on Saturday evening
‘It’s been the staple of my career for as long as I can remember, well, since I started. It has been the main focal point. After the first five or six fights, when I started to step up the level, even incrementally, even slightly, people were saying I was going to lose, that it was a step too far, and all the rest of it. It’s all the stuff everyone’s heard before,’ he says.
‘It’s a side of the coin I’m very much used to, and the pressure’s off. I’m the challenger here. I’m expected to lose and expected to go even quicker, and Daniel’s supposed to put on a better performance, and all the rest of it. So there’s no pressure on me. There’s nothing on my shoulders.’
It is a strikingly relaxed assessment from a fighter preparing to walk back into the ring with the man who inflicted the first defeat of his professional career.
Wardley, however, insists that defeat has done little to change him. He is not pretending that losing a world title is enjoyable, but nor does he regard it as a defining moment in his life.
‘Not a lot has changed. I’m not that different. Don’t get me wrong, a loss is never fun. It’s never nice, it’s never enjoyable. But for me, at least, it wasn’t soul-crushing or devastating, and it hasn’t had any effect on me as a person, my character or anything else.
‘The job’s the job, the game’s the game. From the very beginning, I’ve accepted that getting through heavyweight boxing unscathed isn’t guaranteed, especially given the way I compete at the highest level and my desire to take on the biggest challengers out there.
‘I think people forget that the first time around, I picked Daniel. I asked for that fight because I looked at the crop of heavyweights and thought, “That’s the best one to challenge myself against.”
‘Knowing that about myself, and knowing that’s my angle, was I ever going to get through this undefeated like Floyd Mayweather? Probably not. So, look, it comes how it comes. But as long as I’m happy with myself in terms of the performances, that I’ve given my all and all the rest of it, I can sleep at night.’
Their first fight in May was a brutal affair, with the contest being stopped in the 11th round
Wardley took a lot of punishment in the latter rounds of their first encounter in May (above)
It is that willingness to put himself in the firing line which has made Wardley such a compelling heavyweight. His fights are rarely short on drama, and the first meeting with Dubois was no exception. He started at a blistering pace, dropping DDD in the opening 10 seconds, only for the momentum to swing as the punishment began to accumulate.
By the later rounds, Wardley was absorbing heavy shots and fighting through considerable damage. His condition between rounds prompted questions about whether the contest should have been stopped sooner, with particular scrutiny falling on his corner for allowing him out ahead of the 10th.
Wardley disagrees with the suggestion that his team failed him. He regards the people around him as family and trusts them to put his welfare first, even when the decisions they make are questioned from the outside.
He is equally dismissive of the noise surrounding the timing of the rematch, arguing that those watching from the outside cannot know the full picture of his recovery. His position is that he and his team are best placed to judge the damage he sustained and whether he is ready to fight again.
For Wardley, the prospect of another brutal encounter is not something he has brushed aside or refused to think about. It is a reality he has had to confront with himself, knowing that by stepping back into the ring with Dubois, he is willingly putting himself in a position where he could once again withstand a frightening amount of punishment.
It is a remarkable thought process: to acknowledge the possibility of enduring the same damage all over again, to ask himself whether he is prepared to go through it, and then to make peace with the answer before he has even thrown a punch.
‘It’s a level of early acceptance. The second I triggered the rematch clause, even before that, I had to have a conversation with myself and ask, “This could go the exact same way. Are you ready for that? Are you OK with that?”
‘As long as the answer is yes from me to me, then cool, let’s go. But by now, it’s nowhere near my brain as a question mark or something I’m having to deal with, battle with or anything else. It’s already been ticked off, boxed and put away. It is what it is.’
Wardley was checked by the doctor and spoken to by the referee multiple times in the fight
As a result, Dubois became a two-time heavyweight champion and will now defend his belt
There is little melodrama in his delivery. When the possibility of going through the same ordeal again is put to him, Wardley does not attempt to dress it up as fearlessness or pretend that the risks do not exist.
‘It’s an acceptance of the game and the sport we got into, and especially the way I fight as well,’ he says.
That approach is perhaps best illustrated by what goes through his mind when he is taking punishment in the ring. Wardley is not a heavyweight who is inclined to retreat quietly after being caught cleanly. His instinct is to make sure his opponent knows there will be a response.
‘Especially in those moments, it’s about getting back at them. All right, you took one… let your hands go. Don’t just let them get away with it for free. At least let them know. Let them have it in their brain that if they get off a few shots, I’m not just going to take them, run away and roll over.’
It is a mindset that makes for spectacular viewing, but one which also places enormous demands on a fighter’s corner.
Wardley describes those 60 seconds between rounds as almost too precious to waste on anything other than the information he needs to continue. With the clock ticking and another round approaching, he wants tactical instruction rather than an emotional check-in.
‘No, I think it’s 90 per cent tactical, 10 per cent everything else, because in those moments, compassion doesn’t need to come into it. That’s not where the compassion needs to be.
‘Those 60 seconds are so precious, such a small moment. It feels like a click. It feels like nothing. It feels like it’s done and gone so quickly that you’re on your stool, you’re off your stool and the next round has started.
‘In that time, you need to get the information. It’s not time for, “Oh, a little rub on the shoulder. Are you doing OK, Fab? Is everything alright? Are you going to be alright, mate? Do you want me to dab your face a bit?” No. Let me know what I need to know. Let’s get this going again.’
Wardley knows that the rematch will be gruelling. He knows his durability will continue to be questioned. But he also knows why he wanted the first fight in the first place.
For Wardley, the pursuit of the biggest challenges has always mattered more than protecting an unbeaten record. Defeat by Dubois has not changed that. He is back because in his mind, the possibility of the same ending has already been accepted and because it’s a risk worth taking.
