Wardley Pushes For WBA Mandatory Title Shot Against Usyk/Dubois Winner, But WBA Orders Pulev Fight

Fabio Wardley says he’s not interested in giving Justis Huni a rematch after stopping him in what some fans believe was a premature, referee-aided 10th-round stoppage last Saturday night at the Portman Road Football Ground, Ipswich, England.

After the fight, Wardley, 30, says he’s going to push for his mandatory title shot. Fabio captured the WBA interim heavyweight title with his win against Huni, and he now wants a title shot.

Usyk/Dubois Fight Confusion

“I’ll 100% push for my mandatory,” said Wardley about the direction he wants to go in next after his win over Huni.

Wardley mistakenly believes that he’s now mandatory for the WBA ‘Super’ title held by Oleksandr Usyk, which means he would be fighting the winner of next month’s undisputed championship rematch between IBF champ Daniel Dubois and WBA, WBC, and WBO champion Usyk. That’s NOT how it works.

It’s reported that the WBA’s order is for Wardley to challenge Kubrat Pulev for his WBA ‘regular’ title next. Pulev (32-3, 14 KOs) is currently scheduled to defend against Michael Hunter on August 3rd. So, Wardley can’t directly go after the Usyk-Dubois winner in what would be a lucrative payday for him, potentially in the millions.

Unless Wardley’s promoter can convince the World Boxing Association to change their previous order that Fabio fight Pulev for his ‘regular’ WBA title, he’s got no choice. Take it or leave it.

Even as old as the 43-year-old Pulev is, he’s got the skills from a long pro and amateur career to beat Wardley. He doesn’t fight foolishly like Huni by trading in needless exchanges. Pulev has an outstanding jab that is like a power punch, and he’ll just jab Wardley to pieces, reshaping his fragile nose.

Fabio’s chances of beating either of those two are slim, given how poor he looked against Huni. At this point, Dave Allen would be trouble for Wardley. His level is Joe Joyce and Derek Chisora. That’s who Wardley should be fighting next if he stubbornly refuses not to take the fight with the Pulev vs. Hunter winner.

Wardley Rejects Huni Rematch

“It wouldn’t be beneficial,” said Wardley to iFL TV when asked if he would be interested in a rematch with Huni. “What for? I’m at the point in my career where I’m picking fights to move strategically towards a goal. That goal is a world title. It wasn’t the best performance, I lost some rounds, but I won. So, I’m on to the next one.”

Wardley’s True Skill Level

You can’t blame Wardley for not wanting to run it back with Huni, because he took a career’s worth of punishment against him. He’d likely lose the rematch, and his career, such as it is, would be in the trash bin. Who is Wardley trying to kid? We saw his level against Huni. He’s operating at the Dave Allen and Johnny Fisher domestic tomato can level. He doesn’t belong in the ring with talents like Usyk and Dubois.

It’s detrimental to the sport to have lesser fighters like Wardley compete against championship-level fighters, especially on pay-per-view. It hurts the sport, angering fans, who feel ripped off when the fight turns out to be a mismatch. It would be if Wardley fought either of those guys. Wardley’s promoter needs to put him in with 41-year-old Chisora if he refuses to fight the Pulev-Hunter winner.

“If he got back up, you know what I’m like when I’ve got someone hurt. There’s no way he was surviving the rest of that round. He wasn’t getting away with it,” said Wardley, talking about the controversial stoppage in which the referee prematurely halted the fight despite Huni beating the count. “Save him for another day. He’s still a great fighter. He’s still a young lad.”

Who should be 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐮𝐩 for @FabioWardley? 🤔#WardleyHuni pic.twitter.com/2uaGnNXzg8

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) June 8, 2025