Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley will share a ring again on Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England, and this time the WBO heavyweight title is riding on it. MMA Mania published the full lineup and broadcast times on Monday. The DAZN pay-per-view main card starts at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT), with main event ringwalks expected around 5:30 p.m. ET.
Dubois comes in at 23-3. Wardley is 20-2-1, and that lone draw sits on his record like a pebble in a boot. Both men have lost before, which tends to make a heavyweight more interesting, because you learn more about a big man from how he climbs off the canvas than from how he walks through a run of opponents picked to fall.
The undercard
The fight I’d circle sits one slot below the main event in heavyweight terms. Bakhodir Jalolov (17-0) vs. Solomon Dacres (10-1) puts an unbeaten record against a man with one loss and something to prove. Seventeen straight wins is a real number, and Dacres is the kind of opponent who makes that number mean something.
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At 135 pounds, Loui O’Doherty (12-0) faces Michael Gomez Jr. (23-2), a classic test of an undefeated prospect against a fighter with nearly twice as many pro bouts. At 115 pounds, Tony Curtis (14-1) meets Kerim Agius (6-1-2).
The rest of the broadcast is built around young fighters and the veterans who give them rounds:
- 126 lbs.: Leighton Birchall (5-0) vs. Luis Vara Carrillo (7-11-6)
- 135 lbs.: Fawas Aborode (2-0) vs. Rashid Omar (8-9)
- 126 lbs.: Manny Safari (0-0) vs. Jake Pollars (1-119-1)
- 130 lbs.: Aaron Noriega (1-0) vs. Jose Rivas (19-18-1)
- 130 lbs.: Zayn Ahmed (3-0) vs. Kasey Bradnum (1-49)
- 160 lbs.: Issiah Hamilton-Allen (2-0) vs. Jensen Irving (6-40-1)
Look at Jake Pollars for a second. He has been in 121 professional fights, and on Saturday he’ll be across the ring from Manny Safari, who has been in none. Kasey Bradnum has 50 bouts on his ledger, and Jensen Irving has 47. Records like these get laughed at online, but every one of those losses is a night someone drove to a venue, got their hands wrapped and gave a kid his first real rounds under lights. British boxing’s prospect system doesn’t run without them.
Quick take
Dubois vs. Wardley is the reason people will buy this card, and with a world title attached it deserves to be. Still, if you’re tuning in at 2 p.m. ET, stay put for Jalolov and Dacres. A heavyweight who is 17-0 and still hasn’t been asked a hard question is the most fragile kind of hype there is, and Dacres at 10-1 has a chance to ask it in front of a Manchester crowd. Dubois and Wardley are expected to make their ringwalks at 5:30 p.m. ET.
