Daniel Dubois left no doubt in the mind as he knocked out Fabio Wardley inside two rounds, fulfilling his vow to make quick work of his British heavyweight rival in their rematch.
Having been the one to succumb to an early knockdown in the first matchup, Dubois came out of the blocks in blistering fashion and sent Wardley to the canvas inside 17 seconds.
Wardley, weathering a first-round firestorm, attempted to respond with a huge right cross of his own up against the ropes which narrowly missed.
But Dubois continued to pummel his rival and threatened to put him away as the round came to a close, Wardley’s trainer Ben Davison holding the towel seemingly ready to pull his man out before the Ipswich man was saved by the bell.
The punishment continued as the second round began, rocking Wardley with a sharp one-two before he was forced into a corner once again, with Dubois’s attacks overwhelming his British rival.
This time Davison did throw in the towel, something he was criticised for not doing in the first fight, to seal Wardley’s fate and ensure Dubois retained his world title.
"Shout out to everybody, shoutout to my dad, my whole team. Fabio is a great warrior, but it was my time, my era,” Dubois said.
"I had bad intentions from the beginning. Our back was against the wall first time. We just had to go out there and show we meant business tonight."
Wardley is now left to bounce back from two consecutive losses having entered the year undefeated.
He said: "It's never fun to lose. It is what it is, I've always thrown myself in with the biggest, toughest, meanest guys around, there's no shame in testing yourself against the best.
"Daniel is testament to coming again and I'll come again. You come with a game plan, try to adjust things and it didn't work tonight. It's credit to Daniel of how well he prepared."
Wardley came into the mammoth heavyweight rematch off the back of a brutal defeat in the British pair’s first meeting back in May, when he failed to take advantage of two early knockdowns before Dubois showed immense heart, turning the tide and eventually stopping Wardley in the 11th round.
The 31-year-old Ipswich man was left battered and bloodied by the time the referee eventually waved off the clash at Manchester’s Co-op Live, his nose smashed in and right eye near-completely shut. There was criticism of his corner, chiefly trainer Ben Davison, for not throwing in the towel earlier.
Wardley, however, told promoter Frank Warren of his desire to rematch Dubois immediately following the first bout, revealing this request was made in his dressing room before leaving the arena.
Wardley was insistent that he was in a better position to make adjustments from the first bout compared to Dubois, saying that the room for growth was “exponentially in my favour”, despite being the older man by two years.
Dubois was the heavier man on the night by a slender margin of five pounds, though both fighters took to the scale at career-heaviest weights at Friday’s ceremonial weigh-in in London’s Old Spitalfields Market.
And despite Wardley’s confidence, Dubois put on an emphatic display to finish his British rival in short order, taking a step towards his goal of becoming undisputed champion at heavyweight.
Dubois has already fought and failed in the pursuit of undisputed gold, knocked out by Oleksandr Usyk under the Wembley arch in July 2025, his previous fight before facing Wardley earlier this year.
He is now looks set to target another heavyweight champion after Usyk vacated his titles earlier this year, and squared off with IBF holder Filip Hrgovic - who stunted British 21-year-old Moses Itauma’s stunning rise in August - in the ring after his second triumph over Wardley.