Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois has all the ingredients to be a memorable encounter — but where does it rank with other all-British world heavyweight title fights?
Wardley (20-0-1, 19 KOs), 31, makes a first defence of the WBO world heavyweight title after being elevated from WBO interim champion when Oleksandr Usyk opted to relinquish the belt so he could choose his next opponent.
Wardley, from Ipswich, who has been involved in some thrilling fights recently vs. Justis Huni and Frazer Clarke, will face British rival Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs), who was also promoted to IBF champion in 2024 when Usyk decided to give up that world title belt.
Wardley vs. Dubois could produce enough drama to make it a fight of the year contender, but here are five all-British world heavyweight title fights which were bigger events.
Daniel Dubois vs. Anthony Joshua for the IBF title
Sept. 21, 2024
This was one of the biggest fights globally in 2024 as Joshua attempted to become a three-time world champion and set up a fight against Tyson Fury. But Joshua endured a nightmare as he was floored four times in a Round 5 KO in front of 96,000 at Wembley Stadium — the biggest crowd for a boxing event in the UK on record.
Joshua was the second-biggest earning boxer on Forbes’ latest list of highest-paid athletes at the time of the fight (Joshua came in at 16th, with earnings of $83 million for the year, two places below super middleweight Canelo Alvarez, who had earnings of $85 million).
Joshua entered the fight on the back of a vicious stoppage of Francis Ngannou, but Dubois’ power and aggression sealed victory and set up a clash with Usyk for the undisputed title.
Tyson Fury vs. Dillian Whyte for the WBC title
Sept. 23, 2022
Fury has had bigger fights than against Whyte (vs. Wladimir Klitschko, Deontay Wilder and Usyk), but this title defence still attracted a big crowd. This was also Fury’s first fight in England for four years, and his first as reigning world champion.
Fury vs. Whyte was watched by a crowd of 94,000 at Wembley Stadium, breaking the record for the biggest crowd at a boxing event in the UK (before the record was then broken by Dubois vs. Joshua).
Fury was in prime form when he stopped Whyte in Round 6 and, after KO’ing former champion Wilder the previous year, was considered the world’s No. 1 heavyweight and boxing’s biggest draw along with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno for the WBC title
Oct. 1, 1993
Lennox Lewis’ win over Frank Bruno in 1993 is regarded as the first all-British world heavyweight title fight. But even in the build-up to that fight, Bruno questioned Lewis’s ‘Britishness’ because of his Canadian accent (he was born in London but moved to Ontario aged 12).
This fight was front and back page news in the UK at the time. Bruno was a big star in the 1980s and 1990s, and this was his third world title attempt after losing to Tim Witherspoon and Mike Tyson. The British public had not taken to Lewis, who had insulted the popular Bruno.
Bruno was leading on one judge’s scorecard while the other two had it even when Lewis stopped his British rival in front of 25,784 at the National Stadium in Cardiff.
David Haye vs. Audley Harrison for the WBA title
Nov. 13, 2010
Wladimir Klitschko, IBF and WBO champion at the time, derided it as the ‘London championship’ but David Haye and Audley Harrison still attracted huge interest in Britain. Not since Lewis vs. Bruno was an all-British heavyweight fight so popular in the UK and it was largely down to the pair’s ability to sell the fight and generate publicity.
Harrison, 39, who was called ‘Fraudley’ by his critics for his slow progress since winning Olympic gold in 2000, was floored and then stopped in Round 3 at the MEN Arena in Manchester in front of 20,000 fans.
The fight was then widely criticised for being a mismatch due to how easily and quickly Haye, 30, was able to deal with his London rival in a second title defence.
Tyson Fury vs. Derek Chisora for the WBC title
Dec. 3, 2022
The third instalment of their rivalry never caught fire and Fury predictably sealed a Round 10 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Fury was in control from early on in front of a crowd of 59,769. Usyk was ringside preceding his two victories over Fury.
The forgotten fights…
Technically there were two other all-British world heavyweight title fights: Herbie Hide vs. Michael Bentt for the WBO title in 1994, and Lewis vs. Henry Akinwande for the WBC title in 1997.
Hide stopped London-born Bentt, who was raised in New York from a very young age, in Round 7 to win WBO title at The Den, Millwall’s ground. The WBO title was lightly regarded at the time of this fight.
Lewis made a successful first defence of the WBC title in his second reign as champion in an awful fight vs. Akinwande, who was also born in London but moved to Nigeria as a four-year-old. Akinwande held and grabbed until he was disqualified in Round 5.
