Daniel Dubois is down inside the first 15 seconds! The ring announcements are made. Both have their game faces on. Howard Foster reads the instructions and they touch gloves … ding-ding! Fabio Wardley prowls the stage, a mean look on his mug. It's a boxer's nose, isn't it? Not that I'd say that to his face. His tune of ring-walk choice is some ominous British hip-hop, which I don't know because I'm seriously out of touch. Quite catchy though.
Tony 'cooler than me' Garvey emails to say it's "Can't Be Touched (feat. Trouble Tha Truth & 2piece) by Body Head Bangerz". Thanks, Tom - a banger, indeed. Daniel Dubois, as the challenger, emerges first. His face never gives a lot away. "What a Man" by Linda Lyndell blares out, followed by some reggae beats. Nice.
Moses Itauma, the 21-year-old heavyweight star prospect, is ringside: "It's not about me tonight, it's about Fabio Wardley tonight - he's going to get the W. This fight isn't going to go the distance either." He's Wardley's gym-mate so hardly a surprising prediction. Noel Gallagher is ringside, bet he didn't pay dynamic pricing for that prime ticket. The DJ at a packed Co-op Live in Manchester puts on Live Forever - that's either expert timing or a perfect coincidence.
Question: if we assume that Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua are diminished from their devastating peaks, are Wardley and Dubois the most dangerous punchers in the heavyweight division? There's an argument for it. (I say, immediately ensuring a 12-round hugfest with no knockdowns.) The unbeaten welterweight Jack Rafferty defeats former British champion Ekow Essuman in a one-sided bout. Essuman's corner called the stoppage, throwing in the towel after six rounds - their man was badly cut and shipping a lot of punishment.
Prediction time! The only big favourite in Wardley-Dubois is that it doesn't reach the final bell: the bookies can hardly split the pair. For what it's worth, I reckon the 31-year-old Wardley, who has this uncanny ability to ride punches and get stronger as a fight goes on, has an edge. Dubois doesn't have a poor chin, the 28-year-old just hasn't always shown the incredible mental fortitude of his foe. That said, Dubois is simply the better boxer - which, in [checks notes] a boxing match, is something of an advantage.
After a while it's easy to get jaded when boxing is such a messy old business … and then, just when you're least expecting it, you get to watch a stunning couple of rounds and you see a brutal kind of joy. Zak Chelli's KO of David Morrell was as shocking as it was compelling. Chelli produced an astonishing stoppage - a reminder of how boxing can transform fighters' lives, though Chelli confirmed he will be back at school in Fulham on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, Daniel Dubois has arrived late at the Co-op Live. Last July, when he was crushed by Oleksandr Usyk in five rounds, Dubois' arrival was preceded by a party. But tonight the latest Dubois delay is being blamed on clogged old Manchester traffic. Frank Warren promises "It'll be Britain's answer to Hagler-Hearns" - admittedly, as promoter of both heavyweights, a somewhat biased source.
Brad Rea gets back to winning ways with a stoppage of Liam Cameron. The hometown light-heavyweight ends a one-sided contest in style for probably the biggest victory of his career. Cameron showed plenty of heart getting up after he was clubbed to the canvas in round four, but Rea was all over him.
Wow! We've had a stunning stoppage victory already in Manchester - and it isn't the main event. Fulham's Zak Chelli, a supply teacher by trade, has produced a sensational upset to defeat the Cuban former world champion David Morrell. That is a result few saw coming. Morrell was winning the light-heavyweight contest after eight rounds but Chelli rocked him with a huge right hand in round nine - then bludgeoned the favourite to defeat in the corner in the final round.
The Co-op Live arena is right next door to the Etihad Stadium. Luke Littler has arrived but I was more interested to see Moses Itauma at ringside. I think Itauma is the most interesting heavyweight at the moment - just as I think this fight between Wardley and Dubois is far more intriguing than the Fury v Joshua extravaganza later this year. That overblown scrap is about six or seven years too late.
Preview time: Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley are very different characters but share a knockout ratio of 95% in the combined 42 fights they have won. The unbeaten Wardley has knocked out 19 opponents in his 20 victories while Dubois has stopped 21 of 22 vanquished rivals. It's an impressive statistic which belies the vulnerability at the heart of each man.
Wardley, the WBO world heavyweight champion, comes from a white-collar boxing background with minimal amateur experience. The only blemish on his record is a draw in March 2024 with Frazer Clarke - whom he then knocked out with shocking brutality seven months later. This blockbuster all-British heavyweight showdown is taglined "Don't Blink" - not because promoter Frank Warren fears viewers might nod off, but because both have the power to demolish one another at any moment.
For all their similarities as 6ft 5in punchers with leaky defences, there are striking differences too. Ipswich's Wardley, the WBO champ after the belt was stripped from Oleksandr Usyk, is boxing's latest Cinderella story. Dubois' amateur career was short but highly promising - yet his mentality and versatility have been questioned in losses to Joe Joyce and Usyk (twice). Those defeats came against excellent amateurs, however - and in Usyk's case an all-time great pro. He's never lost to a fighter as awkward but rudimentary as Wardley. Fabio, of course, has never lost at all.
It's a delicious setup for what should be a barnburner in Manchester's Co-op Live arena. We're expecting the first bell between 10.30pm and 11pm (BST), though likely closer to the latter. Do stay with us!