Daniel Dubois climbed to the top twice, defeating Fabio Wardley in the 11th round to become the WBO heavyweight champion after an epic battle in Manchester on Saturday.

Dubois (23-3, 22 KO) was eliminated in both the first and third round, but stopped Wardley (20-1-1, 19 KO) in the penultimate round at the Co-op Live Arena.

With both fighters entering the bout with a 95% knockout rate, few expected the fight to be a success and it seemed like an early night was on the cards in the first 10 seconds.

Wardley, making the first defense of his WBO crown, detonated a brutal right hand that knocked his rival to the seat.

The 28-year-old quickly recovered and started punching with a piston in the second round.

However, the champion fired back in the third round, with another brutal right hand shaking “Dynamite” and sending him to the canvas.

However, Wardley’s success faded after the third round as the former IBF world champion launched a ruthless attack.

The player from Ipswich got back on his feet halfway through the sixth match and, after a series of blows, was one step away from being stopped.

By the seventh round, the 31-year-old’s face was covered in blood, although he bravely lunged for the fence in the hope of landing his trademark right hand, which has defeated Joseph Parker and Justis Huni in his last two fights.

At the beginning of the ninth episode, Wardley was examined by the ringside doctor, with his right eye closed, but was allowed to continue.

Dubois enters the fight after losing by knockout in the fifth round Aleksander Usyk last August he stunned his opponent with another right hand and Wardley looked completely exhausted.

At the beginning of the 10th round, he was examined again by the ring doctor, although he was forced to impose an even greater punishment.

However, his courageous run ended early in the 11th round, and a three-punch attack prompted referee Howard Foster to finally intervene and crown Dubois a two-time world heavyweight champion.

Wardley suffered the first defeat of his professional career.

“Thank you Fabio for a great fight,” Dubois said after the fight.

“It was an honor to stand in the ring with him.”

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Rafferty retires Essuman

Jack Rafferty forced Eko Essuman to retire after the sixth round of their welterweight bout.

Essuman (22-3, 8 KO) suffered a grave injury in the third round and blood flowed into his left eye throughout the fight.

With his eyesight failing to improve, “The Engine” was withdrawn in a corner kick, and Rafferty (27-0-1, 18 KO) returned to winning ways after a majority draw with Mark Chamberlain in August and won the WBA gold welterweight title.

Rhea stops Cameron

Bradley Rea returned to winning ways after stopping Liam Cameron in the fourth round.

Rea (22-2, 11 KO), who was defeated by Lyndon Arthur in November, defeated Cameron (24-8-1, 10 KO) with a strenuous right hand in the fourth quarter.

The player from Sheffield got up, but another attack knocked him to the ground and the referee waved his hand.

Rea became the second man to stop Cameron, who was previously stopped by Ben Whittaker, and won the WBA International featherlight heavyweight title in the process.

Chelli stuns Morrell

Zak Chelli pulled off a huge upset by stopping David Morrell in the 10th and final round.

Morrell (12-2, 9 KO) agreed to face Chelli (17-3-1, 9 KO) after a delay following the cancellation of his scheduled fight against Callum Smith this month.

The former two-division world champion appeared to be on the verge of a decision victory, but the Cuban collapsed in a disastrous ninth round in which he almost survived a powerful attack.

Chelli kept the pressure going in the final round and after pinning Morrell to the ropes, he landed a series of unanswered punches, forcing the referee to intervene.

Gwynne defeats Majid

Gavin Gwynne breathed novel life into his career when he defeated Khaleel Majid (16-1, 4 KO) by majority decision in a thriller.

Moving to the super lightweight category, Gwynne (19-4-2, 5 KO) put in a ruthless performance and won by two scores of 96-94, defeating the card 95-95 and claiming the vacant WBA International crown.

Undercard remaining

Heavyweight Bakhodir Jalolov (17-0, 5 KO) remained undefeated after forcing a seventh-round retirement over Agron Smakici (21-4, 19 KO).

Former cruiserweight world title challenger Mike Perez (32-3-1, 22 KO) broke Franklin Arinze’s (10-1, 7 KO) undefeated scoring record.

WHAT A SHOT BY UMMATALIEV #WardleyDubois | Today | @thecoopliveManchester | Buy the PPV next @DAZNBoxing pic.twitter.com/le8wou7JUh

— Queensberry Promotions (@Queensberry) May 9, 2026

Uzbekistan’s super middleweight prospect Javokhir Ummataliev (2-0, 1 KO) won two in a row after a brutal second-round knockout of Damian Drabik (5-3, 5 KO).

Irish super welterweight Bobbi Flood made it two straight professional victories by defeating super welterweight Nathan Darby on points, and Issiah Hamilton-Allen (2-0) did the same against Connor Goulding (6-11), also weighing 154 pounds.

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