Heavyweight title hopeful Moses Itauma is sure to have a keen eye on Fabio Wardley’s first defence of the WBO crown in May against Daniel Dubois, and the 21-year-old sensation has predicted that the action will not last long.
Wardley has won via knockout in all but one of 20 professional triumphs, with his last 19 victories coming inside of the distance. That streak has seen the Ipswich operator move swiftly up the world rankings and when he knocked out Joseph Parker back in October, he was upgraded to WBO heavyweight champion soon after.
Meanwhile, Dubois offers a similar professional record, winning by stoppage in all bar one of his 22 wins to date, including an unforgettable beatdown of Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium, where he made his solitary defence of his IBF world title.
Last time out, Dubois lost the IBF crown to Oleksandr Usyk, but ‘Triple D’ has a chance to become a two-time champion as he challenges Wardley in a third consecutive world title bout that has got British fight fans split.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, Itauma looked forward to the encounter, but predicted that his stablemate Wardley will get the job done inside of four rounds.
“I think that it is going to be a four-round fight either way. I think that Wardley has the ability and to be honest I would probably put my money on Fabio.”
Wardley-Dubois takes place on Saturday, May 9, at the Co-op Live Arena, for what will be a sixth heavyweight world title contest to have taken place in Manchester.