Dubois vs Wardley 2 Tonight: Start Time, Undercard and What's at Stake as Britain's Heavyweights Run It Back at the O2

Five months ago in Manchester, Daniel Dubois picked himself up off the canvas twice and Fabio Wardley finished the night with his nose split open and one eye swollen shut. Tonight they do it all over again — and neither man is pretending this is just another title defence.

The WBO world heavyweight title is on the line at London's O2 Arena on Saturday night, topping a DAZN card billed “Run It Back”. The two Britons hit the scales at Friday's public weigh-in at Spitalfields Market, and both men came in heavier than ever before: Dubois tipped the scales at a career-heaviest 253.9lbs (115kg), with Wardley also at his biggest at 248.3lbs (112kg), according to Reuters.

Back in May, it was Dubois who walked out of Manchester as a two-time world champion after the referee stepped in at the start of the 11th round. Wardley was bleeding heavily from the bridge of his nose and his right eye was almost closed. But the story of that night was how close it came to going the other way: Dubois was dropped by a right hook inside the first 10 seconds and went down twice before turning the fight around.

“Seek and destroy”: Wardley's promise of revenge

Wardley has not spent five months nursing regrets. He activated the rematch clause within six days of that bruising defeat, and at Friday's weigh-in he was in no mood for diplomacy. “It's seek and destroy now,” he said. “I draw confidence from the successes I had in the first fight — getting knockdowns in the first and third.” His prediction for the rematch: “revenge, Fabio Wardley, knockout win.”

Speaking to talkSPORT before the weigh-in, the 31-year-old from Ipswich sounded like a man who genuinely believes the first fight was there for the taking. “I'm feeling really good; the occasion isn't feeling too heavy,” he said. “I'm enjoying all the build-up; all the hard work is done. I'm feeling light, I'm feeling fresh, and I'm ready to go.” His camp has also been pushing for stricter refereeing this time around, according to reports.

Dubois: “ready to go to war”

The champion, 29, was typically understated at the weigh-in. Dubois said he knew exactly what to expect from Wardley and was “ready to go to war”, adding: “I need to get through this to get to bigger things.” That last line matters. Dubois (23 wins, 3 defeats, 22 knockouts) knows that a second win over Wardley clears the decks for the division's biggest fights — and the oddsmakers, for what it's worth, have him as the favourite to do exactly that.

Wardley (20 wins, 1 defeat, 1 draw, 19 knockouts) carries the only loss of his professional career into this rematch, and everything about his demeanour this week has suggested a fighter who thinks he let the first one slip. He had Dubois hurt early in Manchester and couldn't finish the job. His argument, essentially, is that a cleaner performance this time gets it done. It's a fair argument — he dropped the champion twice, after all — but five months is a short time to fix the defensive lapses that left him a bloodied mess by the 11th.

Undercard and how to watch

The chief support pits unbeaten Uzbek heavyweight Bakhodir Jalolov (17-0, 15 KOs) against Britain's Solomon Dacres, while Louie O'Doherty defends his British and Commonwealth titles against Michael Gomez Jnr.

Here's my honest take: fights this good twice in a row are rare, and rematches of wars have a habit of disappointing. But everything about this one — the needle, the styles, the fact both men genuinely believe they were the better fighter in May — suggests we get fireworks again. Wardley has to start fast without emptying the tank. Dubois has to survive the first three rounds without visiting the canvas. One of them is wrong about how this ends. That's what makes it unmissable.

Sources

• Reuters — Wardley out for revenge in WBO heavyweight title rematch with Dubois
• talkSPORT — Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley weigh in at career-heaviest ahead of blockbuster rematch
• CNA — Wardley out for revenge in WBO heavyweight title rematch with Dubois
• MMA Mania — Dubois, Wardley come face-to-face one last time
• MiddleEasy — Fabio Wardley's team seeks stricter refereeing for Daniel Dubois rematch
• NY Fights — Dubois Wardley 2: bigger stakes in rematch Saturday