Boxing
Fabio Wardley rules out the Moses Itauma fight for now
Published
2 months agoon
Rather than engage in conversations, Wardley pointed to the pace of Itauma’s rise and the tendency for fans to move too quickly on adolescent players.
“We as boxing fans love to get carried away by a story or a person, someone so adolescent who is doing so much,” Wardley told The Stomping Ground of fans urging him to fight Itauma now. “The early doors are kind of like, ‘let’s tardy it down.’”
It’s a intelligent move by Wardley that keeps the focus on where it needs to be. While Moses Itauma is clearly a recent addition to the heavyweight division, passing Daniel Dubois on May 9 would be a huge mistake.
Wardley is right that fans and media are getting ahead of themselves. We see a adolescent fighter making a knockout and we immediately want to see him among the elite, but there is a real risk of burning out the potential fighter before he even reaches the top. Itauma is only 21 years vintage and, as Wardley noted, “validation” needs to come naturally through innings and experience, not just hype.
If Wardley doesn’t overtake Dubois at Co-Op Live, his preference for Itauma will become secondary. A loss to Dubois will likely push Wardley back into a position where he may need a fight against a rising name like Itauma to regain his position.
Both Wardley and Itauma are trained by Ben Davison and fight under Frank Warren’s Queensberry banner. Wardley has been vocal that training “side-by-side” in the same gym makes a fight almost impossible for now. This creates an awkward vigorous in which their coach would have to choose a side or back off completely, something neither player seems willing to enforce.
Wardley focuses on the biggest names in the sport, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk. From his perspective, Moses Itauma is a 21-year-old “potential” (albeit scary one).
While the boxing world favors Itauma after his fifth-round stoppage of Jermaine Franklin, Wardley believes he has already paid for himself by beating Joseph Parker and Justis Huni. He doesn’t see the benefit of putting the belt on the line against a adolescent fighter from his own gym when he could be pursuing undisputed status.
Wardley suggested a specific condition for fighting Itauma: Unification. He recently noted that both should go out, collect world titles, and then meet when the stakes are at their absolute peak.
“Maybe when I have two and he has two, maybe we will have to talk about it seriously,” Fabio said of Itauma.
Wardley can’t afford to look at Itauma because he has a huge problem ahead of him on May 9. Dubois is an elite heavyweight who just finished his war with Anthony Joshua. If Wardley loses this fight at Co-Op Live, his influence over the “WBO champion” will disappear and the WBO can simply order Itauma (their No. 1 contender) to fight for the title against whoever wins.
It’s a combination of loyalty to the gym and Wardley protecting his hard-earned spot at the top table. He wants Itauma to “grow up” to the role so that the fight will make more financial and historical sense in the future.
Olly Campbell is a boxing journalist covering this sport since 2014, providing reports from the ring and technical analyzes of the most crucial fights. His work focuses on fighter tendencies, tactical adjustments and the details that shape high-level competition.
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“Well, you never know. You know what I mean? I think he can make that weight if he wants to,” Prince told Fighthype about the fight between Shakur and Haney.
“But like I told him, Shakur weighs 135 pounds. They weigh 147. So out of 12 pounds, we’re willing to take eight. We’re not even saying we’ll meet halfway.”
“So you never know. I don’t count them because certain numbers often change a person’s mind, right? You never know.”
Prince also said there are ongoing discussions about Stevenson fighting next after recently winning the WBO 140-pound welterweight title.
“It’s up in the air. We’re regrouping. We’re planning again and people will know about it very soon,” Prince said.
Shakur moved up earlier this year and defeated Teofimo Lopez to win the WBO 140-pound title. Stevenson already held titles in three weight classes before moving up to 140.
Haney continued competing at welterweight after moving up from 140 pounds following fights against Ryan Garcia, Brian Norman Jr. and Mario Barrios.
Prince also mentioned undefeated lightweight title challenger Abdullah Mason, who returns to his hometown of Cleveland this month.
“I’m excited, first of all, that Abdullah Mason is fighting at home,” Prince said.
“I have a long history with Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, the entire Midwest was one of the first to embrace my Rap-A-Lot movement.
“They should be really proud of their child.”

Boxing
Tony Bellew explains why Fabio Wardley was right not to throw in the towel against Dubois
Published
3 hours agoon
May 15, 2026
After Saturday’s heavyweight classic, one of the key topics of conversation was whether Fabio Wardley’s corner should have pulled his man out earlier, and former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew shared his view on the matter.
Wardley defended his WBO heavyweight title against Daniel Dubois, but despite two early knockdowns starting in the seventh round, it quickly became clear that the champion was fading.
With Dubois attacking and attacking, the once even fight slowly became one-sided, and after two doctor checks and continued attacking, referee Howard Foster finally intervened in round 11.
While many viewers questioned whether manager Ben Davison should have saved Wardley from an unnecessary penalty, Bellew defended the coach during a TV interview Fight Your Corner Podcast.
“I’m not like many others. I don’t think it should have been stopped earlier. I think the referee did a great job. I don’t think the towel should have been thrown in earlier for the straightforward reason that Fabio Wardley has already shown on many occasions, that he never takes him out of a fight.
“Even if he’s miles behind, even if he’s been injured in a fight, he can pull his hand out of the bag at any time, and for that reason alone, that’s why he should have been allowed to continue playing.
“This is the reason why players like Arturo Gatti were able to continue playing against players like Micky Ward. With his neck up against the ropes and getting punched in the face regularly and Frank Cappuccino [referee] let’s leave it alone, it’s because of the history it has. So they allowed this fight to continue and in my opinion they were right.
“You’ll never make fights truly magical unless you allow the carnage to unfold.”
After a precautionary check-up at a nearby hospital, it was confirmed that Wardley was not seriously injured in the fight. The Ipswich fan favorite could now act his rematch clause and will try to take revenge for the first defeat in his professional career, becoming a two-time heavyweight ruler.
Boxing
Bobby Has escaped disaster time and time again – then cancer changed his face
Published
3 hours agoon
May 15, 2026
Former two-division world champion Bobby Czyz has spent most of his life somehow coping with situations that could easily have killed him.
Now, at the age of 63, Czyz faces another brutal battle after being diagnosed with aggressive squamous cell cancer of his right nostril and neck.
The surgeries necessary to remove the cancer left the former boxing star with a severe facial disfigurement and extensive scarring on his face and nose.
Photos shared publicly by Czyż during his recovery surprised many boxing fans, who remembered him as one of the toughest champions of the sport in the 1980s and 1990s.
But even now, the Novel Jersey striker still sounds like a fighter.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Czyż wrote under one of the restoration photos. “We can all rise up.”
This mentality accompanied him through almost every stage of his life.
Bobby Czyz has avoided disaster time and time again
Long before winning the world title, Czyz narrowly avoided one of boxing’s darkest tragedies.
In 1980, members of the United States amateur boxing team died on board Polish Airlines LOT 007 in a crash near Warsaw.
Was it supposed to be part of the trip? He only avoided boarding the plane because he was recovering from injuries suffered in a car accident.
Escape has become one of the defining “what if?” moments of his life.
Czyz eventually turned professional and became a two-weight world champion, winning the IBF delicate heavyweight title and later winning the WBA cruiserweight crown.
Known as “The Matinee Idol,” Czyż (44-8, 28 KO) fought in the ring with names such as Evander Holyfield, Virgil Hill, Charles Williams and Corrie Sanders in an era full of threatening fighters.
But the punishment in the ropes wasn’t the only trauma he experienced.
In 2007, Czyz was rescued from a burning vehicle after another terrible car accident, which left him with sedate facial injuries.
Now, almost two decades later, cancer has forced him to fight again.
The boxing world is rooting for Bobby Czyż
Friends and figures from the boxing world have already begun to rally around the former champion as he continues his rehabilitation.
Nick Furris wrote: “Good friend, boxing icon and three-time champion Bobby Czyż will fight the biggest fight of his life.
“Out of nowhere, Bobby was diagnosed with nose and neck cancer.
“I spoke to him today and he is in good spirits after the surgery, but he has a long road ahead of him.
“For those who have seen him fight or know him, please take a moment and say a prayer. Knowing Bobby, if there is one SOB who can beat ‘C’, it will be him.”
In 2026, Czyz explained her cancer discovery in an interview with The What’s Next Kid (thewhatsnextkid) on Instagram.
He said: “One morning I woke up with a lump in my nose. The doctors said it was a polyp with cancer.
“Now I have to go through all these surgeries to try and look even remotely cute again.”
For many boxing fans, images of Czyz barely resemble the fighter they watched during his championship years.
But the mindset still is.
After surviving boxing, a plane crash, devastating crashes and now cancer surgery, Bobby Czyz is still trying to rise again.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.
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