Even if he emerges victorious this Saturday, Tony Bellew has urged Daniel Dubois to avoid one of the division’s most formidable operators.
Making a first defence of his WBO world title, the 29-year-old will return in a heavyweight rematch with Fabio Wardley at London’s O2 Arena.
Their first encounter delivered an all-action affair, with Dubois climbing off the canvas in rounds one and three before gaining momentum with his thudding jab and superior footwork.
Proceedings then became largely one-sided as Wardley found himself on the receiving end of a punishing beatdown, before finally getting stopped on his feet in round 11.
As a result, Dubois was crowned a two-time world champion and cemented himself as one of the top heavyweights, along with WBC counterpart Agit Kabayel.
A unification match between these two could therefore materialise in 2027, so long as Dubois retains his title against Wardley and Kabayel does the same in his November 28 contest with Nelson Hysa.
But given Kabayel’s recent performances, in particular his sixth-round finish over Zhilei Zhang last year, Bellew has told Fight Your Corner that Dubois may not be ready for the Kurdish-German.
“If I was managing Daniel Dubois, I wouldn’t touch Kabayel because I don’t know his level yet. He [Kabayel] could be exceptional, but we don’t know yet.
“Kabayel’s a proper nightmare – he’s a brilliant body puncher, he gets up off the floor … he’s not the biggest heavyweight in the world, he’s not the biggest puncher; he’s a nice box-puncher.”
Bellew went on to suggest that, to give himself the best possible chance of victory, Dubois would need to take confidence from the knockdown Kabayel suffered against Zhang.
