Fabio Wardley has been feeding off the “aura” of Anthony Joshua as he looks to reclaim the WBO world heavyweight title from Daniel Dubois at The O2 Arena on Saturday.
Joshua has reunited with Wardley’s trainer Ben Davison ahead of his British grudge match against Tyson Fury on 11 December and the fighters have been put through their paces together at his training facility in Harlow.
Wardley insists the presence of the two-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist has provided a boost as he looks to avenge the only defeat of his career against Dubois in May.
“AJ’s been back for a good while in the gym and it’s been good to see him,” the 31-year-old from Ipswich said.
“He has a different energy and a different aura around him so when he appears it gives the gym a little buzz and a different feel.
“He’s straight back in the mix and he’s shoulder to shoulder with the boys, just like you’d expect.”
Joshua left Davison after his fifth-round knockout by Dubois in 2024 and his return is validation for a coach who has been criticised for his corner work and preparation for world heavyweight title bouts involving Joshua, Wardley and Moses Itauma.
His failure to throw in the towel as a bloodied Wardley faced a ferocious onslaught late on in first showdown with Dubois has been scrutinised – referee Howard Foster came to the fighter’s rescue – but he has the complete trust of his fighter on Saturday night.
“The whole conversation around Ben has always been incredibly frustrating,” Wardley said. “The level of criticism he gets is incredible.
“It’s so strange because the levels at which he’s said to have ‘not achieved’ or not done the right job have been at the absolute pinnacle of the sport.
“I trust these people with my life and I don’t say that lightly. I genuinely do. They know me.
“They know me well enough to know whether I’m in a fight or not and I was still very much in that first fight.
“I’m glad they let me carry on because I was still catching Daniel, even in the 10th.”
Dubois previously identified nerves as the reason for his pedestrian start against Wardley having come off the back of a second confidence-sapping loss to Oleksandr Usyk.
But he now accepts that tension is his default setting and will use his state of mind as a weapon for his 27th professional fight.
“I feel nervous every day,” he said. “I’m a nervous and chaotic character. I’m chaos and I’m just holding that chaos in until the fight.
“It’s a power for you if you know how to use it. It’s about harnessing it. I enjoy inflicting pain and putting that chaos on to the other guy.
“What’s inside me – the pain – I put on him. That’s what boxing is, it releases whatever you have inside you. It’s an outlet.”