Fabio Wardley Promises Oleksandr Usyk He Is Working on His Jab
Fabio Wardley has answered Oleksandr Usyk directly after the Ukrainian publicly asked where the Briton’s jab went against Daniel Dubois. The former WBO heavyweight champion accepted the critique, then promised the two-division undisputed great that the punch is now part of his work.
Usyk delivered the original verdict on DAZN after watching Dubois climb off the floor twice and stop Wardley in the 11th round on May 9 at Manchester’s Co-op Live. The exchange that followed has stayed in the heavyweight conversation because Wardley meets Dubois again on October 17 at The O2 in London.
“It’s a street fight. Congratulations Dubois, good job, new world champion, but Fabio, where is jab? Fabio, where?” Usyk said. He then sharpened the point. “[He] never jabbed. Maybe once. Only right hand, only right hand. It’s not working. Very strong chin, but I think this is a street fight, it’s a problem for both guys for the brain and health.”
Wardley did not treat the clip as an insult. In his response, the Ipswich heavyweight said Usyk’s record and amateur schooling give the Ukrainian the right to speak, even if their paths into the sport could not be more different.
“You can’t, with all he’s done, all he’s achieved, and from his background, you can’t dismiss what he’s saying, but also I’m not him,” Wardley said. “I haven’t had the schooling he’s had, the background he’s had, the time that he’s had.”
He closed the message with the line that has now defined the clip. “Mr. Usyk, I’m working on my jab. I promise.” He added that he will try to do better with the punch that Usyk kept demanding on camera.
That answer matters because Wardley built his career without the amateur education Usyk used to become an Olympic champion and later undisputed at cruiserweight and heavyweight. Wardley came through white-collar boxing, turned professional in 2017, and reached world level on power, chin, and late finishes rather than textbook jab control.
The May fight showed both sides of that profile. Wardley dropped Dubois inside the opening 10 seconds and again in the third round, then faded as the contest turned into the kind of prolonged exchange Usyk later called a street fight. Referee Howard Foster stopped it at 0:28 of round 11 with Wardley’s nose cut and his right eye badly swollen.
CompuBox numbers after the bout complicated Usyk’s “never jabbed” line. Wardley actually landed 57 jabs against 40 power punches, though his early jab was thin, connecting on only 17 of 84 attempts through four rounds before he started throwing it more once the fight slipped away. The volume arrived too late to keep Dubois off him.
Usyk’s concern was not only style. He framed the Manchester war as a health issue for both men after they absorbed heavy shots for most of 11 rounds. Wardley still activated his rematch clause within days, and promoter Frank Warren later confirmed the return for October 17 on DAZN pay-per-view.
The rematch is now the immediate test of whether that jab work is real. Wardley is 20-1-1 with 19 knockouts after the first career loss. Dubois is 23-3 with 22 knockouts and holds the WBO title he took that night. Wardley has already said the second meeting is about revenge and that adjustments have to be made.
The two men share a longer thread than one title fight. Usyk invited Wardley to Ukraine to spar years ago, when the Briton was still leaving a regular job to box full time. That camp helped push Wardley into the professional life that later produced stoppages of Justis Huni and Joseph Parker and a brief WBO reign after Usyk vacated the belt in November 2025 rather than face him.
Usyk is no longer sitting on the other three belts. The unbeaten Ukrainian, now 25-0 with 16 knockouts, vacated the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles in June after a difficult 11th-round stoppage of kickboxer Rico Verhoeven and said he still wants a “last dance” rather than an immediate retirement. A third meeting with Dubois is not the fight the market is asking him to make.
For Wardley, the next five weeks are simpler. He has to show Dubois a different first six rounds than the ones that turned into a right-hand hunt in Manchester. Usyk’s public needling gave him a clear technical assignment, and his reply left little room to hide if the jab stays home again on October 17.
The O2 card will decide whether that promise holds under the same pressure that cost him the title. If Wardley can establish the lead hand early, the rematch becomes a boxing match instead of another war. If he cannot, Usyk’s question will follow him out of the ring a second time.