Daniel Dubois defeated Fabio Wardley in the 11th round to become WBO heavyweight champion
Fabio Wardley was stopped by Daniel Dubois
Fabio Wardley’s co-trainer Ben Davison has taken to social media to issue a statement following criticism that he didn’t throw in the towel to protect his fighter from an onslaught of punches from Daniel Dubois. Boxing fans were shocked that the trainer didn’t throw the towel into the ring as Wardley was bombarded with heavy punches from Dubois in the latter stages of the fight.
Davison agreed the fight could have been stopped sooner, but said he did not see Wardley stumble over to the doctor, and said the defending champion was responding to Dubois’ barrage of punches in the 10th and 11th rounds. 28-year-old Dubois rose from the canvas twice to stop Wardley in the 11th round, answering his critics about his own mental resilience.
Wardley put Dubois down in just 10 seconds, landing his first punch of the fight, which sent panic around the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, before he went down again in the third round. However, he recovered and left Wardley’s face battered and bloodied, landing a huge right hand in the 11th as Howard Foster stepped in to stop the fight.
READ MORE: Daniel Dubois slapped into life before dishing out brutal beating to Fabio WardleyREAD MORE: Fabio Wardley reassures mum as fans ‘disgraced’ by brutal Daniel Dubois win
Fans were shocked that Davison left his fighter in the ring for that long, with it clear that Dubois was on the verge of landing a huge, potentially life-changing blow.
One fan said: “Ben Davison stopped this fight at the perfect time. Wood (Leigh Wood vs Mauricio Lara) didn’t take too much damage and back to have a solid career after No idea why he didn’t take charge of the corner and pull Wardley out last night. Ridiculous really.”
Another said: “Ben Davison has destroyed Wardley’s career not throwing in the towel 2-3 rounds earlier.”
While another fan said: “Ben Davison should be ashamed of himself, letting that carry on. You could see the ref was desperate to stop it, he went to the doctor twice. The corner let Wardley down, they’ve shortened his career with that tonight. “
Davison has previously been praised for getting his timing right in throwing in the towel, allowing Tyson Fury to rise to his feet and knock out Deontay Wilder in a historic night, while also leaving Leigh Wood in the ring for his win against Michael Conlon.
In a statement shared on his Instagram page, Davison said: “On last night, firstly congratulations to Dubois. Two tremendous warriors in a modern day classic.
“We are super proud of Fabio. I actually agree the fight could have been stopped earlier. I did not see Fabio stumble before walking over to the doctor at the start of round 10.
“As ironically, we were discussing with each other to ‘have the towel in hand.’ By which time he had gone over and seen the doctor and seemed much steadier on his legs, which is what we saw.
“It’s such a difficult job to not only find a balance but to striker at the right time to stop a fight like that on a whim when your guy is responsive and firing back.
“I’ve been praised for not towelling Fury (Wilder). I was praised for not towelling Wood (Conlon). I was firstly criticised, then later praised for towelling Wood (Lara).
“Two occasions we looked at it but one, the end of the round came, two Fabio fired back and killed Dubois’ momentum. Again, very difficult in the circumstances of the fighter being responsive and firing back.
“I’ve seen mixed opinions on this one but I agree it COULD have been stopped earlier. However with that said, I think Howard Foster got it band on from his terms.
“Very easy to forget what Fabio has achieved. From four white collard fights to heavyweight champion of the world. Not an easy task to to or for us to help guide against the best in the world. Never been done before, never be done again.”
