Tony Bellew Says Fabio Wardley Must Learn From Daniel Dubois Defeat

The former world champion believes Wardley missed his chance after dropping Dubois twice and must take that lesson into a rematch

Tony Bellew believes Fabio Wardley’s first professional defeat could become the most important lesson of his heavyweight career. The former world champion says Wardley must learn from his loss to Daniel Dubois after dropping the champion twice and failing to close the show.

Wardley was stopped in the 11th round by Daniel Dubois in May after twice dropping the eventual winner earlier in the fight. The Ipswich heavyweight has since exercised his contractual right to a rematch, with promoter Frank Warren indicating that a second meeting could take place later this year.

Bellew explained why he never felt Wardley should have been pulled from the contest despite the punishment he absorbed late in the fight.

“Fabio, you can never pull someone like Fabio Wardley out of a fight as long as that boy’s standing on his two legs, which he was the entire fight. He didn’t go down. He’s there non-stop. He’s throwing punches, by the way,” Bellew said to FightLens.

“We’ve got to remember, he loses 10 rounds against Justis Huni. He’s losing every round against Joseph Parker, and he pulls it out of the bag. How can you ever pull him out? He’d already dropped Daniel twice, so you can’t pull him out.”

Bellew believes Wardley has repeatedly shown an ability to change the course of fights even when he appears to be behind on the scorecards.

At the same time, the former cruiserweight world champion said Wardley must take a crucial lesson from the Dubois defeat into any future rematch.

“He’ll learn more from that one fight than he will all of his career before,” Bellew said. “But he’s activated the rematch clause. I believe, of course, he will do. But he’s also got to now realize when I’ve got a man hurt and on the floor twice in a fight, you better finish it. Don’t play with your food because it can come back to really hurt you. And it’s unfortunate. Very good fighter.”

Wardley captured the WBO heavyweight title in November 2025 and was making the first defense of his belt against Dubois. Although no date has been officially announced for the rematch, Warren has suggested the bout could return in the autumn. The winner could eventually be required to address a mandatory challenge from Moses Itauma, who continues to climb the heavyweight rankings.

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