Dubois v Wardley 2 - blood, bravery & a heavyweight gamble

Dubois v Wardley 2 - blood, bravery & a heavyweight gambleFigure caption, 'Life on the line' for Dubois & Wardley in rematchBySteve BunceBBC Radio 5 Live boxing analystDaniel Dubois defends his WBO heavyweight title against fellow Briton Fabio Wardley at London's O2 Arena on Saturday in a rematch of their thrilling first encounter in May.BBC Radio 5 Live's Steve Bunce looks at the risks of an immediate rematch and what is at stake for both fighters"Where's my mum? I want to let my mum know I'm OK."Those were Fabio Wardley's words in the ring moments after his brutal 11th-round stoppage defeat by Daniel Dubois.I was sitting ringside and remember it clearly. I could hear him asking the people in his corner where his mother was. Eventually, he spotted her a few rows back and began signalling that he was OK.It was an extraordinary moment at the end of an extraordinary fight. There was blood on my shirt, blood all over our ringside equipment, and genuine concern for Wardley's health.Wardley has since insisted the punishment was not as bad as it looked. Perhaps he is right. Here was a man who, despite everything he had just been through, was thinking about reassuring his mother.Usually, if a fighter has been through a brutal bout and isn't fully aware of what's happened, you'd expect him to need medical attention, sit in the ring for an extra five minutes, or just not really be with it. So perhaps it wasn't as bad as it looked.But from ringside, it looked very bad.And now, just a few months later, he is going back into the ring with Dubois to do it all again. Personally, I would have liked Wardley to wait a little longer.Is Wardley risking too much?Wardley is taking an enormous gamble. His nose was badly damaged in the first fight, and the cut across its bridge is an old wound that has reopened before.He has also been through plenty of hard rounds throughout his career, sometimes unnecessarily against opponents he was expected to beat comfortably.That concerns me. But I've spoken to Wardley a couple of times in the build-up, and he makes a compelling argument for an immediate rematch.He told me he wakes up thinking about reversing the result, but knows he cannot put any more pressure on himself.He knows what is at stake. Victory puts him in line for enormous fights and could propel him towards becoming Britain's next crossover heavyweight star. Wardley has the personality, the character, and the public appeal to take on that mantle.But another defeat would raise questions, particularly if it happens in similar circumstances.If Wardley loses a close fight, or if a cut forces a stoppage, I don't think it damages him too much. But if he finds himself winning another slugfest and suddenly falls apart, that would be more alarming.There are already questions about whether Wardley is truly world class, but I find that a difficult label to define.Measured against a world champion like Murat Gassiev, he is more than world class. Measured against a great like Lennox Lewis, he isn't. Boxing is rarely black and white and the term 'world class' is fluid.Figure caption, Dubois v Wardley - Relive the first fightCould Dubois fight Fury or Joshua next?Dubois seems more sheltered than normal this week, which in his case translates into more focused. He knows how close he came to losing the first fight, having made mistakes and been dropped twice. This time he seems confident without being overconfident.If he stops Wardley again in another spectacular fight, I would argue he becomes the most marketable heavyweight in the division.Dubois has already stopped Anthony Joshua and Filip Hrgovic, shared the ring twice with Oleksandr Usyk and given us one extraordinary night after another. His career has been a rollercoaster - savage, bloody, sometimes disappointing, but always compelling.He doesn't chase publicity, but his fights demand attention. He belongs in any conversation about Britain's leading heavyweights, even if I'm not suggesting he belongs at the very top of the historical list.And the possibilities after another victory are fascinating. Who is to say the winner of Tyson Fury v Joshua won't face Dubois next year?Nothing can be ruled out in this division. Joshua would surely love another crack at Dubois after their dramatic encounter, while Fury might fancy his chances against a man he knows well.Even defeat would not be the end for Dubois. He is only 29 and has rebuilt before.A rematch lost in the Fury-Joshua noiseGreat rematches rarely quite capture the magic of the original. The second Chris Eubank v Nigel Benn fight was a tremendous occasion, but it couldn't match their first meeting. Carl Froch and George Groves attracted 80,000 people to their rematch, yet their first fight had greater intensity and drama.Perhaps that's why this rematch has almost slipped under the radar.But Wardley and Dubois, in contrast to Fury and Joshua, are showing everybody how it should be done. We are living in terrific times for British heavyweight boxing.We went 20 years, between 1966 and 1986, without a world heavyweight title fight taking place in Britain. We now have the third on British soil this year.It might not live up to the drama of the first fight, but my understanding is that there won't be a spare seat inside the O2 Arena.More boxing from the BBC