Fabio Wardley’s trainer Ben Davison admits he could have pulled his charge out earlier against Daniel Dubois.
Dubois pummelled Wardley into an 11th round stoppage to capture the WBO heavyweight world title in Manchester on Saturday.
Wardley, who dropped his rival in the first and third rounds respectively, took severe punishment from the fourth round onwards and many have questioned why Davison and head trainer Rob Hodgkins didn’t throw in the towel.
Davison concedes the 31-year-old could have been withdrawn earlier, but insists he was left in a conundrum with the Ipswich man continuing to fire back.
“Firstly, congratulations to Dubois,” Davison posted on Instagram on Sunday.
“Two tremendous warriors in a modern-day classic.
“We are super proud of Fabio.
“I actually agree the fight could have been stopped earlier.
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“I did not see Fabio stumble before walking over to the doctor at the start of round 10, as ironically we was discussing with each other to ‘have the towel in hand’, by which time he had gone over and seen the doctor and seemed much steadier on his legs, which is what we saw.
“It’s such a difficult job to not only find a balance, but to strike at the right time to stop a fight like that on a whim when your guy is responsive and firing back.
”Two occasions we looked at it, but 1. the end of the round came, 2. Fabio fired back and killed Dubois momentum.”
Wardley lost his unbeaten record and WBO crown in his maiden title defence after being elevated from interim titlist to full champion in November.
Dubois became a two-time heavyweight world champion and returned to winning ways after losing his IBF belt to Oleksandr Usyk in five rounds last August.
Frank Warren, who promotes both fighters, confirmed that Wardley has the option to invoke his rematch clause.
The now-former champion broke his silence on social media on Sunday.
“My body failed me, but not my heart,” the 31-year-old posted on X.
“And that I can live with.
“Congratulations @DynamiteDubois, thank you for a great fight worthy of the history books.
“Thank you to the city of Manchester and everyone that has been along on this journey with me. #TeamWardley.”
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