Fabio Wardley has said he believes he will end his rematch with Daniel Dubois early, when the heavyweights clash again in October.
In May, Wardley was on the verge of an emphatic win over his fellow Briton, dropping Dubois inside the opening seconds and again in the third round.
However, Dubois rallied remarkably, dominating Wardley and stopping him on his feet in round 11. With that, the Londoner handed the Ipswich boxer his first professional loss and took the WBO belt from him.
Following that enthralling duel at Manchester’s Co-op Live, the pair will square off at London’s O2 Arena on 17 October.
Speaking to DAZN on Wednesday, Wardley said: “There’s some clear things in that fight that I got right, which we can double down on, and there’s some clear things in that fight that I got wrong, that we can adjust.
“And I don’t think those adjustments are particularly major, either. They’re not large, they’re not big swings stylistically or [in terms of] performance of how I need to do certain things.
“I just need to taper on and taper off in certain areas.”
When asked how the fight will end, Wardley said: “Within four rounds.”
On the night of the first fight, Wardley’s trainer Ben Davison came under fire for not stopping the bout. On Saturday, as he coached Moses Itauma against Filip Hrgovic, he faced different criticism.
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This time, Davison’s gameplan was scrutinised, as Itauma drove a fast pace for eight rounds before suffering a ninth-round stoppage, marking his first pro loss. Itauma, 21, seemed to be winning almost every round before gassing out, although he might also have been hampered by a leg injury, per his promoter Frank Warren.
Davison threw in the towel, but referee Howard Foster had already moved to wave off the fight, which was for the vacant IBF heavyweight belt.
Itauma was taken to hospital after the bout at the O2, where Wardley and Dubois faced off earlier in the night to announce their rematch.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of criticism [Davison] has received,” Wardley said on Wednesday. “[I’m] just almost in shock of just like… I don’t know another trainer in British boxing that gets so much stick after a loss.
“I find it bemusing, like it’s delusional to me. If anything, that’s added a bit of fuel to me to be like: ‘Alright, fine, no worries – I’ll show you what us, the team, Ben Davison, what we can all do. I’ll prove it to you. I’ll take that on my shoulders. I’ll wear that, no problem.’”
Wardley added: “I’ve had Robert Hodgins, who’s been my coach since I started – and I mean that from since I first ever put on a pair of gloves. I trust that man with my life. Same with Ben Davison: he’s been with me for five, six, maybe coming up to seven years. I trust that man as well.
“These aren’t fresh people that are inexperienced or don’t know me. They’ve seen me at hard spars, they’ve seen me through hard fights and hard moments and hard occasions. They know my durability and what I can go through and how I can come out on the other side.”
