Daniel Dubois is determined to make the “trash” Fabio Wardley eat his words when he faces the reigning champion in an all-British bout for the World Boxing Organization heavyweight title in Manchester on Saturday.
Dubois, who has a professional record of 22 wins and three defeats, with 21 knockouts, has been angered by an apparently casual comment made by Wardley in an interview with broadcaster DAZN.
Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs) said Dubois would be a “bin man” if the London heavyweight were not a boxer.
An intense and unscheduled face-off occurred after Dubois stuck around to watch Wardley in Wednesday’s open workout.
The two fighters were involved in yet more verbal sparring on Thursday at Co-op Live, the Manchester venue for the fight.
Dubois, 28, knows he needs a convincing victory to maintain his credentials as a leading heavyweight following a crushing defeat by unified world champion Oleksandr Usyk in July last year.
“Well, I am going to take out the trash. I am the dustman, he is the trash mate. I’ll take out the trash,” Dubois said of Wardley.
“I shared the ring with a top southpaw, a top heavyweight in Usyk, the best of his generation. I am a new fighter now, and I am a new man.”
Wardley started out as a ‘white-collar boxer’, taking part in events for amateurs with other jobs.
He endured gruelling sparring sessions with Dubois early in his professional boxing career, but the 31-year-old now finds himself a world champion following a sensational stoppage of Joseph Parker in October.
Dubois, however, insisted Wardley’s time was up.
“I mean, his luck runs out when he comes against me,” he said.
“You’ve seen him keep coming back from the dead, and this time he stays dead. RIP.”
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Wardley, meanwhile, defended his bin man comment, saying, "Someone asked me what you might have as a job, and I said, 'It might be a bin man,' but don’t let other people get in your head.
“It’s not disrespectful. I didn’t say it was a bad job.”
Saturday’s bout against Dubois will be Wardley’s first title defence as WBO champion
“Irrespective of pedigree, history, or experience, I believe that I can beat him,” he said.
“I’ve proven that time and time again. It’s going to be over and out. He’s going to be cleaned out.”
Published on May 08, 2026