- 2 months ago
Dubois and Wardley preview their WBO heavyweight World title heavyweight rematch
020926
Glazier House, London, UK
020926
Glazier House, London, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00it's just one fight after the next but this is a rematch of the greatest of the year yeah this
00:06is
00:06running back on the 17th october at the o2 this is a cracker of a fight uh the first one
00:12is one of
00:13the best live heavyweight fights i've seen it's edge of your seat stuff two big punches two big
00:19proud men and they're going to do it again and so the fans are going to benefit we had a
00:24fabulous
00:25show on saturday as far as the fans were concerned exciting fight and we had as i mentioned the first
00:31one of this was a was an unbelievable fight and i think this one will be even more electric
00:36this is going to be something special i think it will be more capital punishment time to bring
00:42the boys in for the press conference firstly the fighting pride of ipswich the huge puncher
00:50with the rocky story 22 fights 20 victories 19 by knockout he is of course the former wbo heavyweight
01:01champion of the world please welcome fabio wardley
01:38he was on time for his presenting duties on saturday a little late today we'll let him off
01:43all apologies apologies and to my right the man that has regained his status on top of the world
01:5223 victories in 26 fights 22 by knockout the heavy-handed skilled and still young lion the two-time
02:01heavyweight champion of the world and the reigning wbo king of course triple d dynamite daniel dubois
02:11frank straight back to you you're in between the boys um just take us back to earlier in the year
02:17in manchester we had a fantastic uh set of hors d'oeuvres didn't we a great card topped by
02:23one of the most thrilling fights i think any of us have seen at ringside why was it so good
02:28and why
02:29can it be maybe even better second time around i think it's that old adage styles make fights these
02:35two guys were made to make a big fight and a great fight they're both big punchers they both come
02:41forward they both got self-belief they both got massive massive power and all those ingredients
02:48made it what it was on the night just a fabulous fight and i think this time around it's going
02:52to be
02:52even better i think they both know each other they shared the ring they know what they feel their
02:57strengths are and their weaknesses they'll be trying to exploit them but you're just going to get
03:01bombs away that's how they are they're bombs away two massive massive punching heavyweights
03:08daniel let's come to you first uh becoming world champion for the second time in in the sort of way
03:16you did it in manchester having had to take the punishment early from fabio going down in the first
03:22and the third to get yourself back together and win it just explain to us those those feelings on
03:28the night and in the in the days afterwards what it meant to you um yeah it's just you know
03:34accomplish
03:35mission accomplished and you know knock off some cobwebs really i was coming off for the feet last time so
03:41i was a bit nervous and stuff so yeah it was just um yeah you know it's just a fresh
03:48start for me now i
03:49feel even better smoother training camp this time and yeah i'll be ready for war yeah you sort of say
03:57that you had to get something sort of off your back and you had difficulties in the first part of
04:01the
04:01fight what was it was it the sort of mental strength was it the physical power that you've got was
04:07it don in
04:08the corner was it a mixture of things that got you through to becoming champion again yeah um the whole
04:15yeah the team around that i got around me and um yeah just the will a relentless you know pursuit
04:22and pressure that i applied we chipped away at him that was really the game plan last time to just
04:28chip away and we got the victory in the end got you know got you know got what we came
04:33for yeah it's a
04:34wonderful story that you've come back and you've showed that resilience as i said in the opening you're
04:38still young and and you feel like you can reign as world champion for for a long time now that
04:43this is
04:44a a defense but you're going to go on further now yeah definitely um i've got put things right next
04:49you
04:50know this time and um you know be sharp off the mark more precise and you know take him out
04:55in style
04:56this time just just raise my raise my level now raise my raise my game and um yeah break him
05:03down again
05:03you believe it's a faster start and that you win this quicker the rematch yeah i'm gonna come in just
05:10you know just as champion and um just demonstrate my skill and my pedigree what i have fabio let's
05:19come to you um we've spoken off camera already i know that you are absolutely itching to get back in
05:25to the ring and try and right the wrong i guess that you saw losing for the first time
05:31first of all how did you reflect back on it because the courage the gladiatorial heart the
05:36pair of you showed that night you were so close at the beginning and at the end you you stuck
05:41in there
05:41um and gave us all such value for money such a an entertaining thunderous battle how did you reflect
05:48in the days after disappointed or or were you were you proud of your performance no of course there was
05:53there was mixed emotions taking a loss is never fun it's never the objective it's never what i want
05:59but there was a lot to look at from that performance to be proud of to go home with
06:04to reflect on um so yeah the performance in of itself um i was proud of obviously the loss as
06:12a
06:12whole no there's some things we need to adjust and change and sort out and that's what we've been
06:16doing in the middle of this camp why didn't you take him out when you had the chance down twice
06:22in the early stanzas did did you feel that you let him off the hook uh yeah do you know
06:27i think i um
06:29i lost a bit of not to say the old me um i felt like in a way i felt
06:37a bit comfortable i felt a bit
06:39too comfortable maybe with the really early lockdown then followed by another one in the third
06:43i kind of really kind of relaxed into the fight and thought this is near on a foregone conclusion
06:50that i've done it once i've done it twice i can get him out of that kind of thing um
06:54i i've been
06:56saying in interviews and things and stuff today i'll hold my hands up and be honest and say that i
07:00felt
07:00like i was a i was a victim of my own success in them early stages um and i just
07:06got trigger happy got
07:07carried away with just trying to launch that right hand and trying to get that to land and trying to
07:12get
07:12to the hit and just trying to get the fight finished up and and in the moments when i did
07:16have
07:16him hurt i don't actually think i jumped on him enough i think i kind of again was too relaxed
07:21too
07:21comfortable too laid back in those scenarios where i really should have put my foot down applied the
07:26pressure and got him out of there before i get the uh the rest of the media involved what about
07:31what
07:31was said afterwards that you were sort of too brave for your own good um did that affect you you
07:37obviously um wanted the rematch as as quickly as possible is this the right time with the obviously
07:43the injuries the nose everything like that is is that absolutely fine are we ready to go on october
07:4917th yeah look i absolutely zero excuses for the loss on the night and i have absolutely zero excuses
07:56going into the rematch i i triggered the rematch scores as soon as i could um and i was ready
08:01to
08:01go as soon as we could find a venue and put everything together again i think a lot a lot
08:06has
08:06been made of kind of the aesthetic of how it looked and yeah look it's ultimately on the face of
08:13it it's
08:13a boxing match between two big heavyweights you're probably going to come out with a bruise with a cut
08:19or two um i think a lot was made of it i think a bit of a meal was made
08:23of it really like i've i've gone
08:25through wars like that in the past and then had rematches shortly after so it's not there's nothing
08:32new to me um it's nothing new to the team around me and the people especially that know me well
08:37know
08:37me close and know me personally yep fraser clark of course and daniel in some unbelievable thunderous
08:43battles despite this one let's bring the media in uh two fabulous heavyweights ready to go um yeah what
08:49at the back these great rivalries and rematches are built on grudges often drummed up and not a lot
08:57of basis behind them i just wonder if you'd like to explain how much respect both of you have got
09:02for
09:02the other man one for getting off the deck twice which must have been tough and and one for never
09:08going down after so much punishment yeah definitely um when you share the ring um 11 rounds or whatever it
09:16was uh yeah this we had a good war we had a good battle and uh um yeah this time
09:23you know you know
09:24that's that mutual that's that fire respect that you have it has a fighter as a boxer and um yeah
09:30i can't wait to do it again yeah again i share the same sentiment like credit to daniel for not
09:36being down not once but twice and and getting up and carrying on and then pushing through on the
09:42fight and eventually getting the win there's nothing but respect and credit to him for that um i i'd like
09:48there's admiration for me and like i say i've gone through wars like this with opponents in the past
09:53and done the rematches and there's nothing but respect going into the second the second time around
10:00frank just just a quick one for you um there's been a lot of talk about the fight obviously the
10:07last
10:07match was in may potentially being rushed a little bit too quickly but from your perspective was it
10:13just the case that you wanted to get these two great men back in the ring for the british boxing
10:18fans
10:19it wasn't my it wasn't in my hands there was a rematch clause and the man to my left wanted
10:24the rematch
10:25they called for the rematch and wanted it as soon as possible so that's why we're here that's why we're
10:30here you know he they have belief in in a massive belief in fabio and and that's that's it that's
10:38really it you heard what fabio said he said within a couple of days you wanted it and it's happened
10:46you
10:46got remember the first fight was a voluntary defense and the terms that were reached there would be a
10:51rematch should should fabio get beaten so we're here um all i can say about it is
10:59if you're a boxing fan you're in for a treat because that first fight as i said when we started
11:05was something special and i think this will be even better
11:08all right gents uh so just quick question for yourself there daniel so i feel fabio has identified
11:17his areas where he feels he needs to improve or make changes do you feel you're making many
11:22adjustments to this fight or do you feel confident in the original game plan
11:26yeah well you're gonna see on the night you know you're gonna see on the night you know there's no
11:32he can't do anything different he can't change his style he'll come out we'll try it hard again
11:36but i'll have an answer for him
11:41it's a message for frank um i know it's going to be explosive night but going forward whoever comes on
11:49top
11:50or are there any sort of repercussions for the end of this fight have you got any plans what's next
11:54are we potentially looking at hergovic unify the title so queensbury you know we we made a decision
12:02quite a few years ago to focus heavy on heavyweight division and we've done that and i think this for
12:08god knows how many years there was never a british uh a fight involving the british heavyweight in this
12:14country for many many years we've done i think we've done three this year now with brits we've got three
12:22uh champions uh who who work with us uh we've got the wbc which ajit caviel who will fight at
12:30the end of
12:30the year we've got daniel and fabio who are fighting obviously for the vo title on the 17th and we
12:38had to
12:39fight the weekend so the objective is nothing for all of them and this is why they're professional
12:44boxes is is to earn money big money so we'll be looking to try and and work hard to make
12:50the
12:51make the unifications let's find out who's the best out of all these guys and that's what that's what
12:56our plan is so at the end of this year we've got three those three titles have all had their
13:03all the
13:04fighters would have had their fights and be a champion standing next year it's about getting them all
13:10together and making even bigger fights we're doing something that i don't believe even when don king
13:16was had all the heavy weights we're doing something that they haven't done they're fighting regularly
13:22regularly they're out they're fighting and big big fights and we're selling out and this will be
13:28another sellout i'd be surprised if it's not a sellout you know this is this is a foregone conclusion
13:33that the people are going to be entertained so again with you know we as a promoter are delivering
13:39um and we're delivering for for our clients the guys who who go in the ring get in the ring
13:45and do
13:45the hard stuff and entertain everybody but that's what it's all about from is is is to find out who's
13:52the
13:52best and make money professional boxing that's what it is make money question and make the tax man money
14:01unfortunately um question for fabio fabio obviously when you reflect on the first fight and those two
14:07early knockdowns do you feel like that's a bit of a blueprint you need to follow going into the rematch
14:12to try and hurt daniel early and capitalize a bit more this time around trying to create those doubts or
14:19do we see something a bit different uh yeah i don't think it's as simple as either hurt him early
14:25or
14:25hurt him late it's just get him hurt basically and then follow up whether that comes early or late is
14:30a
14:30different it's a different story it's not really the plan the plan is to go about things in the right
14:36way get him hurt and follow up on that and in the right actions that areas that i lacked in
14:42the previous
14:43fight of that follow-up and that kind of finishing the job kind of thing um i've proven i can
14:50finish
14:50fights early i've proven i can finish fights late so that there for me is already a box ticked it's
14:56more
14:56so about actually going about it in the moment thanks guys thanks fabio um let's bring in uh riz
15:04khan business manager for uh daniel of course riz you've been around him quite a long time now and
15:09seeing the ups the downs um i guess how proud are you of the way daniel has uh come back
15:15and he's now
15:16reigning again two-time heavyweight champ and how confident are you going into this that it will be the
15:22same outcome obviously the whole team are extremely proud of what daniel's achieved not just over the
15:29last uh six months but throughout his career and if you put these stats and the facts on the table
15:35since 2020 daniel has only lost to alexander usig and just going back to the fight a number of months
15:43ago first of all congratulations to fabio who fought like a gladiator uh in that fight and it's a
15:49testament really to both fighters five six months on the public are still talking about the fight of
15:55the decade so from a heavyweight perspective the last fight of the decade was anthony joshua v klitschko
16:03but since then we've not really had that heavyweight battle and these two demonstrated in the ring
16:08that they achieved that on the night now moving forward to the rematch
16:14i'm sure those who followed daniel's career will understand daniel was at 80 of his capacity of
16:22what he can achieve so moving into the rematch i think this fight is not going to be fireworks like
16:28don't blink first fight this is going to be explosive and in my opinion this fight is not
16:32going to last beyond five or six rounds and unfortunately
16:38fabio is going to see a different daniel on the night daniel's going to be tuned in he's been
16:43training now for four or five weeks after a good rest and it's going to be explosive and uh my
16:48opinion
16:48is daniel will take out fabio within the first five or six rounds thanks riz let's get straight over to
16:54michael uh over the other side um obviously very proud of your gladiator as as riz says that everyone
17:01was on the night of both of them what happens next of course you you were full of confidence before
17:07the first one it nearly worked out but that's boxing what happens this time around how's fabio
17:12mentally and physically to you yeah i think um we want to get it back in blood and that's the
17:21truth of
17:21the matter you know um some some problems in life can't be solved via talking sometimes you need
17:28violence and i think on that october the 17th you can expect a lot of violence um and i think
17:36we're going to see a different fight and i agree with um i agree with him the fight's not going
17:41to
17:41last more than five rounds i think fabio is going to hurt him and fabio knows that he has to
17:47stop him
17:48so i think um it's going to be just like the first fight exciting but it's not going to last
17:54more than
17:55five rounds fabio's gonna um stop him in in great fashion and just like andy was asking to fabio about
18:04the blueprint do you think it is that blueprint that he hits so hard and that he let him get
18:08away
18:09and let him rebuild last time at this time no way he does that yeah it's not just about you
18:15know we
18:15talk about him finishing but we don't talk about the setup right so fabio just has to do the right
18:22things set him up um and i'm sure he will and like i said this time i i don't think
18:28that fabio is
18:28going to let him off the hook you know this is not it's not it's not personal but it's he's
18:36got
18:36something that is ours he's got something that we want got something that we desire and we aim to
18:43to to take it from him um and that's the mentality uh that we're we're pushing on to fabio go
18:51and take
18:52it from him bully him be aggressive be strong be smart be you we love a rematch both managers
19:02predicting within five rounds let's get to one of the great trainers in world boxing i never think he
19:08gets enough credit don charles maybe the best heavyweight trainer of them all um you reconnected
19:15with daniel you guided him through in manchester um you got to him when he was down when he was
19:21hurt
19:22you you got in boxing again you got the result i guess it's a it's a combination that's really working
19:29and that will work even better this time with more time together yeah most definitely good afternoon
19:35ladies and gentlemen we're here again deja vu um yeah basically uh we've been together now for
19:43three years myself and daniel and the team and every day that goes by you get to know one another
19:52and uh i'm so proud of this young man sitting to my left a gladiator a warrior and uh there's
20:01so much
20:01more when you look at his age and what he's achieved to date sometimes i lie in my bed and
20:06i think wow
20:09yeah wow is the the word and there's so much more to come from him in terms of development i'm
20:15seeing
20:16him like a flower bloom you know developing i'm so excited again um fabio wardley whom i'm known for
20:24beginning of his career so proud of him how far he's come and what he's achieved okay and uh
20:31what an incredible fight last time and yes i'm also in the belief of this fight is going to be
20:37even
20:37better than the first fight because both teams are going to go away and try and rectify um excuse me
20:45rectify the mistakes they made in the first fight we certainly i'm i'm an experienced coach
20:52i live sleep eat boxing and i'm of age and it's my duty to go and we know what we
21:01did wrong it's my
21:03duty that's what i'll get paid for to make sure we identify and rectify the mistakes we made in the
21:09first uh encounter and you think it can be even more exciting second time around you and i know the
21:17history of boxing the rematches even trilogies maybe there's there's something special when
21:22they go at each other again after a classic first time round most definitely this is guaranteed you've
21:28got two guys here two young gladiators who want it that's what makes it when you got the ingredients
21:35the recipe just spells uh uh awesome that is going to be an awesome encounter an epic battle they're
21:43going to have and we were confident right that we're going to be victorious daniel is confident
21:51that he's going to deliver the telling blow to conclude the fight in his favor before we finish
21:57with the guys frank just a last word from you how excited are you about this heavyweight era we saw
22:05saturday night another classic we saw this one back in manchester we could have an even better fight
22:12i mean 2026 and beyond 27 and 28 with agit cabal and all the others it's wonderful for for the
22:18fans
22:19and for these fighters it is it's fantastic i mean when you think about it it's taken us a few
22:24years to get
22:25this together but as i said fight after fight heavyweight fight after heavyweight fight it's
22:30excitement it's the blue ribbon division the punchers you know that for since i was a kid the most famous
22:38man on the planet was always famous sportsman on the planet was always the heavyweight champion of
22:44the world you go back over the years come next year the last man standing out of all this will
22:49be the
22:49most famous man on the planet and that's what it's about this is so so exciting to be involved with
22:56i'm really lucky in in you know at my age to be involved in this and i'm enjoying every moment
23:01and
23:02not just as a promoter but as a fan just sitting there and watching these guys deliver something
23:08special each time extra special each time and this fight this rematch is going to be unbelievable and you
23:16can watch it on the zone worldwide do not miss it if you don't buy a ticket and you better
23:21buy them
23:21quick because this is going to sell quick you watch it on the zone yeah well said and tickets will
23:26be
23:26on sale on friday you can sign up with queensberry for the pre-sale get 24-hour early access uh
23:32great
23:33you still got that passion frank it's fantastic to hear philip hergovic said to us afterwards that
23:37he's now the biggest sporting hero in croatia that heavyweight champion of the world is bigger than
23:42anything else and it's great to hear that daniel you are the heavyweight champion of the world for
23:47the wbo do you see this like your trainer your manager as this will be a knockout quicker and
23:54you'll make a real statement on october 17th yes you know i've got to break him down and beat him
24:01up
24:01um i did it last time i'm gonna do it again um yeah better start repeat not revenge no way
24:10no no no
24:12definitely and just finally daniel what will this do for your confidence mentally and physically and
24:18your work with don and everything if you win this again in october do you feel then that you can
24:22go
24:22into other unifications and become the creed the best heavyweight on earth yeah i want to get into that
24:29you know that league frank's talking about the last man standing i don't want to be the last man
24:34standing and um yeah got to be up there with their greats fabio as much as a pleasure it was
24:40to have
24:41you part of the design team on saturday we want you back in the ring october 17th what will a
24:46win do
24:47for you how much does it mean to you you've had the rocky story you've become a world champion after
24:52the
24:52the handful of white collar fights what will this mean to get revenge on daniel yeah look it's just
24:59another chapter in the story that that is my career um and by no means that i expect to get
25:07through
25:07boxing unscathed not many do survive this sport especially heavyweight boxing without a loss without
25:14a stumble along the way but again even daniel himself has proven you can take a loss and come back
25:20and
25:20win and he's now two-time heavyweight champion of the world and that's exactly what my aim is to do
25:25is to come back right my wrongs adjust and come through on top we had all the thrills and spills
25:32last time you didn't get the result what happens october 17th yeah i didn't get the result it didn't
25:38go my way but this time it will i'm great at i'm great at making adjustments i'm great at improving
25:44in the short space of my whole career in terms of heavyweight boxing or professional boxing as a
25:50whole i've managed to catch up to all these boys very quickly in a short time frame that i've been
25:55able to put on a pair of gloves so i've time i've proven time and time again that i am
26:00able to adapt
26:02adjust change develop i'll do all those things in this camp and i'll come through on top on the night
26:08with a knockout dubois wardley to the o2 saturday october the 17th before we face them off i think
26:15we should have a round of applause for what they gave us in the spring and what they're gonna give
26:19us in october two heavyweights putting it all on the line the world champion daniel dubois the
26:25former world champion fabio wardley and let's bring them together for pictures