LONDON.- The British Daniel Dubois on Saturday he retained his title of heavyweight champion of the World Boxing Organization (OMB) by defeating London to his compatriot Fabio Wardley by abandonment in the second round.
After his resounding victory, Dubois now has his eye on a series of possible unification bouts for his division (heavyweights), which has been fragmented since the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk vacated his titles CMB, AMB and IBF in June.
“Now I’m the champion and I want to get big fights,” said the British boxer. “At this stage of my career (I want) a lot of money, big fights.”
In this long-awaited rematch of a bitter eleven-round fight earlier this year, Dubois left his rival no choice.
“I had bad intentions from the beginning,” Dubois said in his in-ring television interview following his victory. “The first time we were on the ropes; this time we just had to go out there and show that we mean business, and that’s what we did tonight.”
The champion knocked down Wardley 17 seconds into the fight held at the O2 Arena from London, landing a huge right hand squarely on his chin.
Dubois, 29 years old and 1.96 meters tall, continued to land blows at will throughout the first round, which ended with Wardley desperately clinging to the ropes under a hail of punches.
The second round continued the trend, with Dubois unleashing a series of blows that left Wardley in serious trouble, until the towel flew into the ring two minutes and 21 seconds into the round.
“I didn’t expect to lose this way,” Wardley said. But “there is no shame in defeat when you give your all and test yourself against the best.”
With his victory, Dubois extended his record to 24 victories, 23 of them before the limit, and three losses.
Wardley, 31, now has 20 wins, two losses and one draw.
Figueroa does not fight after losing title on the scale
After losing his world title due to excessive weighing, the American boxer Brandon Figueroa He did not fight his fight this Saturday against the Japanese Tomoki Kameda in vegas due to illness, the organizers reported.
On Friday, Figueroa was stripped of the US featherweight belt. World Boxing Association (WBA for its acronym in English) for failure to attend the weigh-in ceremony for the fight against Kameda.
Figueroa, born in Texas of Mexican parents, exceeded the category’s 126-pound limit (57.1 kg) by 1.4 pounds.
