Fabio Wardley’s team has held discussions regarding the possibility of defending his WBO world heavyweight title against Daniel Dubois.
WBO champion Wardley is considering options for his first title defense, and Dubois, who is ranked No. 4 in the WBO rankings, is on the short list of potential opponents.
Filip Hrgovic and Jiray Zhang are two strong contenders in the WBO top 15, but Wardley and fellow Briton Derek Chisora were unable to agree on terms for the fight.
Wardley’s manager Mike Ofo told Sky Sports: “Fabio wanted a fight with Oleksandr Usyk after beating Joseph Parker, but he chose to go after Deontay Wilder instead. That fight fell through and Fabio wants a unification fight with Usyk for all the belts.”
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Fabio Wardley calls Oleksandr Usyk’s decision to vacate the WBO heavyweight title ‘strange’ after he was ordered to fight Wardley
“We were following the fight against Chisora or Wilder on April 4 and they have fallen into each other’s arms and as you can see from the press, they are acting like lovers. But boxing is a tough sport and we wish them all the best for the future.”
“As for Daniel Dubois, Fabio obviously has high expectations for this fight. There’s nothing like an all-British showdown for the world heavyweight title!”
Asked about the Wardley vs. Dubois fight, promoter Frank Warren told Sky Sports: “We’re talking to Fabio about a lot of things and we’re also talking to Daniel.”
Undefeated Wardley could return in April or May.
“No matter what happens, we both have to fight, we both want to fight and we will continue to fight.
“So they will probably be fighting in late April, early May.”
Wardley was crowned the new WBO champion after Oleksandr Usyk relinquished his belt by failing to make his mandatory WBO title defense against the undefeated Briton.
The Ipswich fighter became interim WBO champion with an impressive 11th round stoppage win over Joseph Parker at the O2 in October.
Dubois recently returned to his former trainer Don Charles in hopes of getting his career back on track after suffering a knockout loss to Usyk in their July rematch at Wembley Stadium.
