Teddy Atlas has weighed up the attributes and limitations of Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois, predicting who will emerge triumphant on May 9.
The pair will square off for Wardley’s WBO world title at Manchester’s Co-op Live, headlining a Queensberry Promotions card that promises to deliver fireworks.
This is because both heavyweights possess fan-friendly styles and carry enormous power, with each of them boasting a 95% knockout-to-win ratio.
Several of these stoppages have arrived against top-class opposition, too, with Wardley coming off an 11th-round finish over Joseph Parker last October.
The 31-year-old was then elevated from ‘interim’ to full WBO champion after Oleksandr Usyk, who still holds the WBC, IBF and WBA titles, vacated his belt in November.
Dubois, meanwhile, has not fought since his fifth-round stoppage defeat to Usyk last July, when he was relieved of his IBF title in emphatic fashion.
Before that, though, ‘Dynamite’ had scored consecutive stoppage victories over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua, with the latter performance seeing him defend his world title.
But while Dubois, according to Atlas, represents a more complete package, the Hall of Fame trainer has nonetheless told BetVictor that he favours the mental resolve of Wardley.
“Wardley’s on a magic carpet ride; there’s something special going on with him.
“He’s physically strong; he’s a good puncher; he’s got a great chin; he’s got a great heart; he’s got a great engine. But if you really know what you’re looking at in the sport… there’s still progress to be made, learning to be done, and he’s doing it.
“Dubois is more complete. Dubois has an amateur background. He is a good puncher; he is athletic; he is skilled; he is very thick-boned; he’s very strong. But there’s something about the magic of Wardley I’m not going against.
“The area that I’ll finish this with is the most important area to me: the area of mental strength. I think he surpasses Dubois in that area. And because of that, I’ll take Wardley.”
Many have accused Dubois of lacking such fortitude in past performances, especially in his 10th-round stoppage defeat to Joe Joyce and first encounter with Usyk, which came in 2020 and 2023 respectively.
Wardley, on the other hand, remains unbeaten and has shown tremendous character to overcome hard-fought battles with the likes of Parker and Justis Huni.
