Daniel Dubois issues shock deadline for Fabio Wardley rematch

Dubois beat the then-champion Wardley in a heavyweight slugfest last month at a sold out Co-op Live in Manchester. 

After overcoming a knockdown in round one, Dubois returned to his feet and battered Wardley into submission with the contest being stopped in the eleventh session. 

It was no surprise that Wardley activated his rematch clause and anticipation is now building ahead of could be another heavyweight classic. 

Wardley rematch needs to take place before end of 2026

Dubois and Wardley both took significant punishment in last month's fight, and some time will need to pass before either man is ready to step back into the ring. 

Looking ahead to his rematch with Wardley, Dubois expects to face a much improved version of his opponent, but that will not stop him from achieving his ultimate aim. 

"I expect to him to be a lot better, a lot better myself, and improved version of myself now that I am champion," Dubois told talkSPORT. 

"It’s time to go and clean up the division, that’s all I’m seeing. I’m on my journey to claim all the belts and sealing my legacy."

For Dubois, Wardley is in his immediate crosshairs, but he insists that this rematch, whether it gets made or not, will not bring a grinding halt to his career. 

"I’m going to wait for no one. I’m going to get busy and defend that belt."

While work is being done behind the scenes to make the Dubois-Wardley rematch a reality, there is a time limit. 

When a rematch clause is activated, the fight has to be made within a certain time period before it expires and the two fighters go their separate ways, and the same applies to Dubois and Wardley. 

Appearing alongside Dubois when speaking to talkSPORT, his business manager Riz Khan revealed that there is indeed a cut off date for when the Wardley rematch needs to be made official.

"There is a cut-off date, a number of months away, I can’t give you the exact date," Khan said. 

When then asked whether the cut-off date is before the end of 2026, Khan replied with "Yeah.

"If there is going to be lapse in time, and it goes over the expiry date, I’m sure Frank will be looking at other opponents.

"Until we get to that stage, we will be sticking to the rematch clause."

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