Right then. Let's not beat around the bush — the rematch is happening. Just not yet. Frank Warren spoke at length over the weekend and again on Monday morning, and the message could not be clearer: Daniel Dubois versus Fabio Wardley II is in the diary, but it isn't a summer fight, an autumn fight, or possibly even an early 2027 fight.
Warren's Words
“There is a rematch clause, but I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon,” Warren told the British press. “They're going to have to be out of the ring for a little while yet. Probably six months at least. Those fights take a lot out of you.”
That last line is the bit that matters. The eleven rounds at Co-op Live were attritional. Both heavyweights took heavy punishment. Wardley has a closed eye and significant facial damage. Dubois hit the canvas twice and went the longest, hardest twelve minutes of his career. Six months minimum is a sensible medical position, not a stalling tactic.
The Usyk Question
Here's what complicates the timeline. Oleksandr Usyk defends against Rico Verhoeven at the Pyramids on May 23. If Usyk wins — and most of us pick him to — he then has a mandatory queue with Dubois as the WBO champion. The natural autumn fight is Usyk — Dubois II, not Dubois — Wardley II.
Warren acknowledged that openly. “There are quite a few heavyweight fights happening in the next few months, and that will determine where we go.” That is promoter speak for “we're keeping our options live and the rematch is a 2027 fight.”
Wardley's Calendar
So where does Wardley sit while all this plays out? Realistically: rest until July, full camp from August, voluntary return in November against a fringe top-15 heavyweight in the UK. Get the rounds back, get the confidence back, get the eye back to full clearance. Then the rematch lands in March or April of 2027 at a stadium — Tottenham Hotspur Stadium being the obvious pitch.
That's the same blueprint Joshua used after Ruiz I — rest, reset, and walk back into the same fight with a sharper game-plan. There's no shame in it; there's wisdom in it.
What Dubois Wants
Dubois has been clear all weekend: he wants Usyk. He called him out from the ring. He wants the chance to avenge the 2024 loss with both belts on the line. Warren's said as much — the WBO mandatory is in play. The IBF is held by Usyk. A unification rematch is the fight that pays. The Wardley rematch is the safety net — it gets triggered if Usyk goes elsewhere, or after the Usyk II result.
Dubois doesn't sound like a fighter rushing back into the same kind of war he just survived. And nor should he be. Wardley nearly ended his night inside fifteen seconds. The rematch is dangerous on those grounds alone.
Luke's Read
I'll back Warren on this one. Six months is right. The rematch wins more — financially and competitively — if it lands as a 2027 stadium fight with both fighters fully healed, with the WBO landscape resolved, and with the pay-per-view drumbeat properly built. Anything quicker is a money grab that risks one or both of them being damaged goods.
The honest call: Usyk beats Verhoeven, then Dubois fights Usyk in November, then either way the Wardley rematch is signed by Christmas for an April 2027 stadium night. Pencil it in. Levels.