Wardley offered route back to world title after 'rest and recovery'

Fabio Wardley will be offered a route back to another world heavyweight title fight after his rematch defeat to Daniel Dubois.

Wardley was unable to regain the WBO world title after he was stopped in the second round of his second fight with Dubois at The O2 on Saturday.

But his manager Mike Ofo firmly believes that Wardley can challenge one of the other world champions after a "well-earned rest".

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Ofo told Sky Sports: "Fabio has had a remarkable run, and there is no doubt that he still has a bright future ahead of him.

"Now is the time for him to enjoy a well-earned rest, to recover and consider his options. His journey has already been nothing short of remarkable, an extraordinary story of grit, determination and achievement.

"Clearly, he has never shied away from a challenge and has chosen to face the toughest opponents at every turn.

"I fully expect him to continue competing at the very highest levels of the sport and to win another world title if that is what he chooses to do."

Oleksandr Usyk's decision to vacate his world titles has opened up new opportunities as Murat Gassiev holds a WBA title, while Agit Kabayel is the WBC champion, and Filip Hrgovic holds the IBF belt.

Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will also fight for the WBA 'super' title in Cardiff on December 11.

Promoter Frank Warren intends to steer Wardley back into world title contention.

Asked if Wardley remains a threat to the division's top fighters, Warren told Sky Sports' Toe 2 Toe podcast: "He's knocked over guys that have never been knocked over before.

"If he catches you, you're in trouble, and he's capable of doing that, but he's got to take a rest now and he's got to weigh up his chances and where he thinks he can go.

"I'm sure when he does come back, he'll have, as we call it in the trade, a warm-up fight. But if he does come back, he'll want to fight for a title again. He's a former world champion."

Wardley has reached the elite level of the sport, despite turning professional after a spell as a 'white-collar fighter' and Warren believes his remarkable success story can have another chapter.

"He'll be out for a while now and let him just rest and come back; if he does come back, and we'll see where we go with him," Warren said.

"You've got to look at some of the wins he's had. He beat Joe Parker, who was ranked No 1 in the world and everyone was saying, 'When is he going to get his shot at a world title?'

"They were backing Joe Parker to beat Daniel and to give Usyk a real tough fight and he beat him, he stopped him. I take my hat off to him.

"All of the things you've just mentioned, he never had a single amateur fight, learnt on the job, and look where he got himself, so he should be unbelievably proud of himself.

"He's a big puncher. You look at that knockout he had with Frazer Clarke. The first fight was a good fight but the second one he knocked him out in the first round and look what he did to Justis Huni. Massively behind against a very good boxer and he knocked him over. Even with Daniel, he had him on the floor twice in their first fight. He's a dangerous man.

"You look back over the years and I'm not saying he's Lennox Lewis, but Lennox, he lost against Hasim Rahman, he lost against Oliver McCall but down the road he avenged those defeats.

"A lot of these guys have been beaten in fights over the years and this era now, there's some really good fighters out there."