Daniel Dubois announced himself as the undisputed champion-elect with an explosive win over Fabio Wardley - the next generation of heavyweights has arrived, writes JEFF POWELL MBE

To hell with the romance. Stuff the slow starts. Never mind most of the O2 shouting against him.

Daniel Dynamite Dubois exploded into the ring with such power and brutality that he might have sent a tsunami along the Thames.

What he did beyond doubt last night, and what cannot be contested by Fabio Wardley or the three other world heavyweight belt wearers, was announce himself as the undisputed champion-elect.

White-collar Wardley was disabused of any notion he might regain the WBO title he lost to Dubois five months ago.

He was stunned in 17 seconds by Dubois's first booming right-hander of a red-hot night. And so the pain continued unabated.

'Fabio is a great boy, coming in for the second time, but it was my time, and my era,' said Dubois. 'I had my intentions, bad intentions, from the beginning.'

This time there was no delay in Wardley's corner throwing in the towel. No point in the referee delaying the inevitable.

Dubois's sledgehammer blows rained down like missiles, with none travelling in the opposite direction.

One of the rival world champions was here to see the ferocity in person. Filip Hrgovic, who had disposed of Moses Itauma recently, sounded somewhat shell-shocked.

Agit Kabayel may be in no rush to meet Dubois. Nor, perhaps, will the winner of December's WBA clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

This was an enormous statement by a man whose courage had been questioned but who will now be favourite to hunt them all down in his quest for the succession to Oleksandr Usyk as the undisputed champion.

'I'm the champion now, and I want to get some big fights in,' said Dubois. 'At this stage in my career, big money, big fights.'

The next generation of heavyweights has arrived.

So the irresistible force and the immovable object came to blows again at the O2. Dubois had risen from the canvas twice in the spring to claim his second world heavyweight title. Wardley, who neglected to finish him off, paid such a bloodied price that he left us wondering how he had stayed on his feet.

Their mutual hammering in Manchester had left us greedily wanting more at the O2.

Both pledged to put the savagery on after-burner second time around. Forget the concerns for their health.

In the parlance of the first promotion, Don't Blink was the warning to all those in attendance. These two had spent their careers knocking people out for fun or sometimes being stopped themselves.

No one expected this fight to go the distance. Not the fighters themselves. 'Me early,' predicted Dubois. 'Me earlier,' said Wardley.

'Twelve rounds?' opined promoter Frank Warren. 'No chance.'

The majority of the crowd were with the underdog, roaring Wardley into the ring. Partly from their feeling for romance, with a white-collar boxer breaking into the highest echelons of the heavyweights.

Dynamite Daniel's reception was more subdued. Even a hint hostile. Wardley hoped for a first-round knockdown, but that went to Dubois.

The first right of the night had Fabio reeling on the ropes for an eight count. More hell followed.

It was all over in round two. Wardley was brave as always, but his corner could not let him keep taking sledgehammer blows without reply.

'I just came in and I didn't execute the game plan properly,' Wardley admitted. 'I hold my hands up to that; that is entirely down to me.'

'A little white-collar boy like me could never have dreamed like this,' he added, reflecting on a sold-out O2 despite defeat.

Dubois may have found greatness with this mammoth performance.