The WBO heavyweight champion went seek-and-destroy in the rematch, and now he has Hrgovic, Kabayel and Itauma lined up as his next big-money targets.
Daniel Dubois did not come to box on Saturday night. He came to end it. The WBO heavyweight champion tore through Fabio Wardley in the second round of their world title rematch, and the message to the rest of the division was loud and clear: this is his era.
The mood was set long before the first bell. Promoter Frank Warren said Dubois was so locked in backstage that a normal conversation was impossible. Dubois then walked to the ring in black trunks and a black cape with no visible emotion, and the comparisons to a young Mike Tyson, only bigger and heavier, were hard to avoid. He moved on Wardley fast, and the fight was over inside two rounds.
The win puts Dubois in position to chase the biggest fights available at heavyweight. Zhilei Hrgovic is not named in the plan, but Hrgovic, Agit Kabayel and Moses Itauma are the three names on his radar for the next major paydays. Each would bring a different test: Hrgovic brings power, Kabayel brings pressure, and Itauma brings youthful hype.
If Dubois fights like this again, whoever steps in next will be walking into the same storm. For now, the champion is in command, and the heavyweight queue is forming behind him.
