Anthony Joshua must keep away from this precise Fabio Wardley mistake to topple Tyson Fury

As “Triple D” Daniel “Dynamite” Dubois dismantled Fabio Wardley under the dome of the O2 on Saturday, there was double deja vu. And yes, high quality, the alliteration there is about as extreme as the punishment Wardley absorbed.

Five months on from the first loss of his profession, Wardley was stopped by Dubois again. That was the first familiarity, but the second is altogether more intriguing. We’ll get to that soon.

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Firstly though, the injury admittedly seemed completely different this time, as did the sample of the struggle. May’s heavyweight conflict in Manchester saw Wardley drop Dubois in the first 10 seconds and again in spherical three, before Dubois rallied, took over the struggle, and stopped a bloody Wardley late on. On Saturday, the destiny of the WBO title was determined inside two rounds, although there’s an argument that it was actually determined in the opening 20 seconds; that was when a jackhammer proper cross damage Wardley, who never actually recovered.

The second case of deja vu, though, will have flitted through followers during the 5 minutes in which Wardley tried to jolt himself awake from this nightmare.

More than once, Wardley tried to deter Dubois with a rear uppercut, and more than once he was punished for it. It was the same shot that price Anthony Joshua in his beating by Dubois in 2024, when Ben Davison was in his nook – just as he was in Wardley’s on Saturday.

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That punch can really feel an unwise alternative at the best of occasions, a approach that leaves you weak, but these were the worst of occasions.

Andy Lee, one of Tyson Fury‘s coaches, was fast to call out the error on commentary for DAZN. It’s price noting that Fury vs Joshua, on 11 December, will pit Lee against Davison.

It’s also price noting that an animated Lee was talking instinctively, and actually insightfully; this did not seem to be any dig at Davison, who has obtained his honest share this 12 months – not only in the wake of Wardley’s losses to Dubois, but also after Moses Itauma’s defeat by Filip Hrgovic. In the same vein, this article is not meant as a dig at Davison.

Furthermore, while nook footage confirmed Davison calling on Joshua to utilise that uppercut against Dubois in 2024, there’s always the probability that Wardley threw it instinctively or of his own volition on Saturday. Some followers may raise their eyebrows at the suggestion, but other moments in the struggle betrayed the faults in Wardley’s instincts.

Notoriously a white-collar fighter before his skilled profession, with no newbie stint to his title, the Ipswich boxer is always under larger scrutiny than his friends, but his behavior of turning away from Dubois’s punches in the rematch was rightly highlighted on commentary as a naive response.

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Now and then, the 31-year-old did discover himself in the clinch – theoretically a safer place for respite – but referee Steve Gray was fast to separate Wardley and Dubois, 29. Other referees might have allowed longer clinches, that means more restoration time for Wardley. There is no inherent challenge with Gray’s method, to be clear, and longer clinches would have allowed Dubois to do a completely different sort of work on a damage Wardley. Perhaps Wardley was doomed regardless, after that early onslaught from Dubois.

Either means, questions have now arisen over Wardley’s long-term future, but the division is also fascinating in the short time period, Fury vs Joshua included.

Of course, it would not be honest to pin the outcome of Fury vs Joshua on Davison’s teaching, and it actually would not be honest to pin it on a particular – if repeated – error from his boxers.

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At the time of writing, Fury is a clear favorite over Joshua for a plethora of causes, and Davison might truly be the best coach for “AJ” at this juncture. That’s not only based mostly on Davison’s insights as one of Fury’s ex-coaches, but also the high quality run of outcomes that Davison and Joshua achieved between 2023 and 2024.

Joshua, who has had quite a few trainers all through his profession (and who enters the Fury bout on the back of a main scare against Kristian Prenga, as nicely as a car crash in December that killed two of his mates) wants confidence as much as anything else on 11 December.

Davison might deliver Joshua that confidence, but there is a high quality line between confidence and a harmful dedication to the incorrect tactic. Against Fury, Davison and Joshua must be switched on like never before.