Hrgovic Vows to 'Destroy' Dubois in Heavyweight Rematch Talk

Daniel Dubois settled the Fabio Wardley argument in a hurry. Five months after their May war — a genuine Fight of the Year contender — the pair ran it back earlier this month, and the sequel never got going. Dubois wiped Wardley off the heavyweight map inside two rounds to make the first defence of his WBO belt, turning a competitive rivalry into a one-way demolition.

That win pushes the Brit to 23-3 (22 KO), a finish rate that reads almost cartoonish for a world champion. Now he's hunting bigger names — a crack at WBC titleholder Agit Kabayel, unbeaten at 27-0, and a rematch with IBF champion Filip Hrgovic, the man Dubois already stopped back in 2024.

Hrgovic Isn't Flinching

Hrgovic is happy to give him the rematch, and he's not short on confidence about how it'd go. Speaking to Pro Boxing Fans, the Croatian said a second fight with Dubois would feel like slow-motion after he'd just shared a ring with Moses Itauma, who he reckons is ten times quicker. He conceded Dubois is strong and owns a good jab, but insisted he'll beat him — and stop him.

His pitch leans heavily on the first meeting. Hrgovic claims he nearly stopped Dubois in that 2024 bout despite being sick, injured and cut from the opening round, damage he blamed on Dubois leading with his head. Whether the rematch ever materialises the way he tells it is another matter entirely.

The Queue Comes First

There's a wrinkle before any Dubois do-over: Hrgovic looks set to defend the IBF strap against Frank Sanchez first, a mandated clash pencilled in for Croatia in February or March 2027. Sanchez (26-1, 19 KO) arrives off a second-round knockout of Richard Torrez and ranks among the division's sharper gatekeepers, so 'El Animal' has real work to clear before the Dubois chatter means anything.

For Dubois, the maths is simple. Kabayel is the belt that completes the picture, and a tidy Hrgovic rematch is the kind of fight he's already won once. Wardley, now 20-1-1, is parked for the foreseeable future. The heavyweight division finally has a champion forcing the action — the rest just have to catch up.