Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley got into a heated exchange of verbal jabs in the press conference ahead of their WBO heavyweight title clash on May 9, turning up the tension.
Wardley suggested that Dubois would likely have been a “bin man” if he had not pursued boxing. Although the champion later insisted the comment carried no disrespect.
Dubois clearly took offense and used the remark as motivation heading into the fight.
Dubois sends brutal warning to Wardley
Reacting to Wardley’s comment, in the press conference, Dubois embraced the insult while firing back with a blunt response.
“Well, I am going to take out the trash,” Dubois said. “I am the dustman, he is the trash mate. I’ll take out the trash.”
The former IBF heavyweight champion also pointed to the experience he gained from sharing the ring with Oleksandr Usyk, whom he described as the best heavyweight of this era.
“I shared the ring with a top southpaw, a top heavyweight in Usyk, the best of his generation,” Dubois said.
Dubois believes those experiences have transformed him into a different fighter.
“I am a new fighter now, and I am a new man.”
The 28-year-old further dismissed Wardley’s recent run of dramatic comeback victories and predicted that the unbeaten heavyweight would not survive against him.
“I mean, his luck runs out when he comes against me,” Dubois said.
Dubois then delivered his harshest message yet while referencing Wardley’s reputation for recovering from difficult moments in fights.
“You’ve seen him keep coming back from the dead, and this time he stays dead. RIP.”
The comments immediately added more heat to a fight already viewed as one of the most explosive heavyweight matchups of the year. They also got into an intense face-off after the open workout.
Wardley says ‘bin man’ comment was misunderstood by Dubois
Wardley later defended the original remark and insisted he never intended to disrespect or refuse workers or personally insult Dubois.
“Someone asked me what you might have as a job and I said ‘bin man,’” Wardley explained during the news conference.
The WBO heavyweight champion argued that outside voices had exaggerated the situation and unnecessarily fueled the tension.
“There was no negative with that,” Wardley said. “Don’t let other people get in your head and tell you what it comes across as.”
Wardley also suggested that Dubois may not even have seen the original interview himself.
“You didn’t hear what I said, you don’t run your own social media. You let other people talk to you,” he added.
The unbeaten heavyweight closed by emphasizing that he never viewed the job negatively.
“It wasn’t like that. I didn’t say it was a bad job.”
With both men trading sharp words publicly, anticipation for the fight continues to rise rapidly.
Wardley enters the contest unbeaten, while Dubois hopes to bounce back stronger following his defeat to Usyk.
Both fighters carry serious knockout power, adding even more intrigue to an already heated rivalry.
