Fabio Wardley to offer Tyson Fury a shot at his WBO world heavyweight championship if he retains against Daniel Dubois
Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois will box on May 9 in Manchester, while after a year's retirement Tyson Fury will return on April 11 to fight Aslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium; If Wardley retains his WBO world heavyweight title he will throw down the gauntlet to Fury
Wednesday 25 February 2026 14:24, UK
Fabio Wardley has called for a heavyweight showdown with Tyson Fury before the end of the year, as long as he makes a successful defence of the WBO world championship against Daniel Dubois.
Wardley is putting his heavyweight crown on the line against Dubois, the former IBF champion who handed Anthony Joshua a devastating knockout defeat in 2024.
Wardley and Dubois will box on May 9 in Manchester, while after a year's retirement Tyson Fury will return on April 11 to fight Aslanbek Makhmudov at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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Victory could lead Wardley to a fight with Fury, the former two-time heavyweight world champion and still one of the biggest stars in the sport.
"You would hope," Wardley told Sky Sports. "I don't know how surely you can say about anything in boxing and anything that involves Tyson Fury as well probably has an extra caveat on top of that as well.
"That would be ideal, that would be fantastic. That would be a great fight, again testing myself against one of the best. But one fight at a time."
But he will offer Fury a shot at the WBO title if he retains the belt against Dubois. That would present Fury with the chance to join the likes of Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis as a three-time world heavyweight champion.
"I had an open invitation to him at the start of the year before he signed up for his fight with Makhmudov and before I even signed my fight with Daniel. I said look if you want to go straightaway we can go straightaway, it's no bother.
"But if he wants a little warm-up and he wants to get through that and see how he feels, blah, blah, blah, then cool, no bother to me.
"I'll still be ready and waiting after I'm done with Daniel for a massive fight."
