{"id":2664,"date":"2026-03-07T04:11:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T04:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news678.top\/?p=2664"},"modified":"2026-03-07T04:11:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T04:11:56","slug":"daniel-dubois-the-second-best-heavyweight-on-the-planet-ahead-of-fabio-wardley-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=2664","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Dubois ‘the second best heavyweight on the planet’ ahead of Fabio Wardley fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\"Anthony\t<\/div>
Dubois aiming to become a two-time heavyweight champion this year (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After a punishing defeat for Daniel Dubois last year, plenty has gone on behind the scenes for the former heavyweight champion. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of last July\u2019s loss to Oleksandr Usyk, Dubois broke ties with Don Charles, the trainer who oversaw the best form of his career in a move that surprised many in the boxing world. The two reunited at the start of the year, with Charles now back in the camp to oversee a second world title charge.<\/p>\n

Dubois enjoyed the best spell of his career under Charles\u2019 guidance. Mohammed Ali, Dubois\u2019 head of performance analysis, has also been firmly part of the journey over the last two years, working diligently alongside Charles to help finely tune the Londoner and dissect his opponents in the lead-up to fight night.<\/p>\n

Another shot at world title gold awaits in May in a thrilling domestic dust-up against Fabio Wardley. Victory in Manchester that night can solidify one man\u2019s status as no2 in the division still ruled by Usyk \u2013 with Dubois\u2019 camp convinced he is still destined to ascend to the top before long.<\/p>\n

Dubois lost for the second time in his career to Usyk last summer and while their first bout was engulfed in low-blow drama, there was nothing controversial about the rematch. The Londoner was outclassed, stopped in\u00a0 the fifth round as the Ukrainian became a two-time undisputed champion after taking the IBF strap Dubois had worked so hard for.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old has had his heart questioned at various stages in his career \u2013 after a first defeat to Joe Joyce and again on the night he first came up against Usyk where he was unable to find his killer instinct.<\/p>\n

Wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic demonstrated there was more to him with his demolition job on Anthony Joshua in September 2024 proving he belongs at heavyweight boxing\u2019s top table.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Fabio\t<\/div>
Dubois challenges for Wardley\u2019s WBO title in May (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018People question Daniel\u2019s mentality,\u2019 Ali told Metro<\/strong>. \u2018But in his comebacks, he has shown how strong he is as a fighter, both physically and mentally. Lots of fighters get hurt or get knocked out, some don\u2019t come back from that. But Daniel has this ability to take every setback as a drive.<\/p>\n

\u2018I personally believe Daniel Dubois is the second best heavyweight in the world. He has been beaten by the best in high magnitude fights but he has already shown he can come back from that and look better. I feel that is the difference.<\/p>\n

\u2018He has a chance to become a two-time world champion and I believe he will be the next undisputed champion. That\u2019s part of our journey and Wardley is just a barrier we have to pass.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Fabio\t<\/div>
Don Charles is back by Dubois\u2019 side (Picture: Richard Pelham\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dubois has worked with six different trainers since starting his career under the guidance of Martin Bowers at the Peacock Gym in Canning Town. After that split following the Joyce defeat, there was the short-lived link-up with Mark Tibbs before Dubois settled in with Shane McGuigan. In 2023, they parted ways after two years together.<\/p>\n

It was under Charles that Dubois secured the best run of victories of his career against Miller, Hrgovic and Joshua but after the second Usyk defeat, team Dubois made the decision to end things and turn to Tony Sims. Before they had the chance to christen the partnership with a fight, there was another split with Dubois returning to Charles.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Anthony\t<\/div>
Dubois\u2019 biggest night came against Joshua at Wembley (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the face of things, it looks chaotic. But back by Charles\u2019 side, Ali believes Dubois has returned home.<\/p>\n

\u2018With Don Charles, he understands Daniel Dubois in every way, as a person, as a fighter,\u2019 Ali said. \u2018It was like anything, you can get good and bad breaks but this was a good one, you go off to different camps and see what they can bring to the table but he came back because he felt that was his home.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tony Sims is one of the best coaches in the country so there was nothing behind that. Don and Daniel just have that relationship where they know how to work with each other. Dan walks around with a world champion mentality when he\u2019s with him.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Fabio\t<\/div>
Dubois recently refused Wardley\u2019s offer of a fist bump (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wardley is now the focus. The 30-year-old secured a stunning upset victory over Joseph Parker, perhaps heavyweight boxing\u2019s most in-form fighter, last October to claim the WBO interim title, upgraded to full champion just before Christmas.<\/p>\n

Wardley is a ferocious operator, ascending the ranks impressively having had no amateur background, making his name in white collar boxing before turning pro.<\/p>\n

\u2018We have to focus on him first and then move on,\u2019 Ali said of Wardley. \u2018He\u2019s like a man who never went to university but then became a lawyer or doctor. He has learned the trade very well and he possesses great skill and great conditioning. Mentally, he is very strong too. He is going to be a handful on the night. But there are weaknesses and we are there to exploit them.\u2019<\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Eddie Hearn reveals Anthony Joshua possible return date \u2013 and it\u2019s sooner than expected<\/span><\/p>\n
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Daniel Dubois ‘the second best heavyweight on the planet’ ahead of Fabio Wardley fight
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#Daniel #Dubois #heavyweight #planet #ahead #Fabio #Wardley #fight<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dubois aiming to become a two-time heavyweight champion this year (Picture: Getty) After a punishing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[585,2386,2387,2389,461,2073,2388,2390],"class_list":["post-2664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-ahead","tag-daniel","tag-dubois","tag-fabio","tag-fight","tag-heavyweight","tag-planet","tag-wardley"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2173601621_1772803476.jpg",1200,630,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2173601621_1772803476-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2173601621_1772803476-300x158.jpg",300,158,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2173601621_1772803476-768x403.jpg",640,336,true],"large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2173601621_1772803476-1024x538.jpg",640,336,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2173601621_1772803476.jpg",1200,630,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2173601621_1772803476.jpg",1200,630,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2173601621_1772803476-1024x538.jpg",1024,538,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2173601621_1772803476-540x340.jpg",540,340,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?author=1"},"category_info":"Sports<\/a>","tag_info":"Sports","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}