Daniel Dubois secured the WBO heavyweight title with an 11th-round stoppage of Fabio Wardley but is set to lose a large chunk of his winnings
Daniel Dubois is poised to forfeit an estimated sum exceeding £600,000 from his victory over Fabio Wardley on Saturday evening. The heavyweight force secured the WBO title with an 11th-round TKO at Manchester’s Co-Op Live – his third world championship overall, having previously held the WBA (Regular) and IBF straps.
It is understood that Dubois also pocketed around £1.3million for the contest, although ‘Triple D’ won’t receive that complete figure. In the UK, anyone earning above £125,140 per year is subject to the additional tax rate of 45 per cent.
This means that £585,000 of Dubois’ purse will go directly to HMRC. Additionally, the 28-year-old will be liable for two per cent National Insurance, a further £26,000 – theoretically taking his total deductions to an eye-watering £611k.
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Should the fight purse estimates prove correct, the British champion will be left with £689,000 to pocket. However, he will also likely pass on a portion of this to his corner, trainers and gym as is traditional in the sport.
Speaking after his triumph over Wardley – which will be remembered as one of the finest bouts of the year – Dubois said: “It was a war. We come through the sticky moments. It was a war. Thank you, Fabio, for that. Thank you.”
When pressed on what the future holds, with both the WBO’s mandatory challenger Moses Itauma and a potential third clash against unbeaten Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk looming large, Dubois said: “I want to grow from this fight, improve and come back even better and go on a reign as champion again.”
Meanwhile, promoter Frank Warren was left almost speechless following the action-packed headline bout. He said: “It was amazing. These two guys show such heart – both of them.
“Great heart, chins, it was an amazing fight. It was just absorbing, it had everything. Exciting. Best heavyweight fight I’ve ever put on.”
While a rematch clause is included in the fight contract, Warren revealed little about Dubois’s next move in the ring. A lucrative Usyk trilogy could prove tempting for the fighter, having suffered two defeats to the ‘Cat’ in recent times.
The pair first met for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO titles in August 2023, with Usyk finishing his long-time rival in the ninth round. Dubois then embarked on a three-fight winning run against Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua – claiming the IBF title that Usyk had vacated to face Tyson Fury in a rematch.
Yet when the two squared off once more last July at Wembley, the result was much the same. The Briton was floored by a fifth-round knockout at the hands of Usyk, leaving him back at square one in his pursuit of world championship glory.
Although Dubois will be keen to settle the score with the 39-year-old, he faces the prospect of being stripped of his WBO title if he neglects to defend it against Itauma. The 21-year-old has climbed the ranks remarkably quickly, amassing an outstanding record of 14-0 in just three years.
Currently holding both the WBA International and WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight titles, Itauma now finds himself on the cusp of a shot at world championship glory.
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