Dubois vs Wardley 2 Set for October 17 at London's O2

It's official: Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley run it back on October 17 at London's O2, with Queensberry Promotions confirming the date for a rematch that's been brewing since May. Dubois (23-3, 22 KO) puts his WBO heavyweight belt on the line for the first time since he took it off Wardley in Manchester, while Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KO) gets an immediate shot at avenging the only defeat on his record.

The first fight was a proper heavyweight thriller. Wardley dropped Dubois twice early at the Co-op Live Arena, then watched the champion claw his way back and grind him down before referee intervention in the 11th round. Wardley stayed upright the whole way — no knockdown, just a stoppage on a battered and bruised challenger — and activated his rematch clause almost before the bruises had set.

The Numbers Behind the Rematch

These two hit hard and finish fights. Dubois carries a 22-KO record across 26 pro bouts, and Wardley's 19 stoppages in 22 outings tell you why the first meeting turned into a firefight rather than a chess match. Wardley's ledger reads 20-1-1 — that lone loss is the one he's coming to erase, and the draw is the only other blemish keeping him from a spotless card.

For Dubois, this is the first defence of a belt he took by force. He arrives ranked as WBO champion, but he's not exactly untested — those three career losses mean there's still doubt about whether he can dominate the division's elite over the long haul. Beating the same man twice, decisively, would go a long way toward answering that.

A Division in Flux

The timing matters. Oleksandr Usyk — still the lineal champion at 25-0 — has vacated all his belts, scattering the heavyweight titles across different holders and blowing the division wide open. That leaves Dubois-Wardley 2 as one of the more meaningful fights left standing, with a genuine world title on the line rather than an interim placeholder.

Frank Warren had signalled the autumn rematch for weeks, and now it's locked. Wardley wants his belt and his unbeaten aura back; Dubois wants to prove Manchester wasn't a one-off. On October 17, one of them gets it.