3 potential opponents for Fabio Wardley’s first fight as world heavyweight champion

Having been elevated from interim to full WBO world champion, Fabio Wardley now has a long list of contenders looking to face him.

Since a possible clash with heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk — who relinquished the WBO strap earlier this month rather fan face the Brit — remains elusive, Wardley looks to earn the right to be a champion in his first defence.

The WBO’s leading contender is, of course, Moses Itauma, but he just so happens to share a gym with Wardley and is seemingly being moved in a different direction.

Perhaps further down the line, the pair could come to an agreement of sorts, with Itauma training alongside Ben Davison and Wardley sticking with head coach Robert Hodgins. For now, though, there are at least three more suitable candidates for the Ipswich man to defend his title against in 2026…

Daniel Dubois

As the WBO’s number-four ranked contender, former world champion Daniel Dubois has emerged as an enticing option for Wardley.

Having withdrawn from his IBF final eliminator with Frank Sanchez, the path is now clear for Dubois to jump straight back into a world title fight.

And despite his fifth-round stoppage defeat to Usyk this past July, ‘Dynamite’, along with Wardley, is still considered one of the most ferocious punchers in his division, suggesting that their potential dust-up can only deliver fireworks.

Filip Hrgovic

With back-to-back points victories over Joe Joyce and David Adeleye, sturdy contender Filip Hrgovic now finds himself in favourable number-two ranked position with the WBO.

More than anything, it would be interesting to see how his remarkable durability measures up against the raw power of Wardley, whose explosive fists have engineered 19 stoppages in 21 professional outings.

Wardley would likely enter their possible contest as a favourite, but Hrgovic could nonetheless put the 30-year-old’s finishing instinct firmly to the test — though Joseph Parker recently tried and failed to do the same.

Zhilei Zhang

Many believe that Zhilei Zhang was ruthlessly exposed against Agit Kabayel, who expertly broke him down with body shots back in February before orchestrating a sixth-round finish.

But still, Wardley is arguably yet to face a puncher who is quite as potent as Zhang, whose number-three WBO ranking puts him in a strong position.

‘Big Bang’ is, of course, coming to the end of his career at the age of 42, though recent performances would suggest that he remains serviceable enough to provide Wardley with an intriguing test.