Yes, Albuquerque native Angelo Leo is still the International Boxing Federation featherweight champion. But Leo’s retention of the title came about on Friday, not Saturday, and in a most peculiar and unsatisfying way.

Challenger Ra’eese Aleem’s failure to make the 126-pound featherweight limit at Friday’s weigh-in has led to the cancellation of Leo’s Saturday IBF title defense in Atlanta.

Leo, who had the option of fighting Aleem with no title at stake, opted not to do so. As reported by boxingscene.com, Leo, having weighed in successfully at 125 pounds, is still entitled to his contracted pay, reported to be $147,000.

Aleem, who had called Saturday’s fight the greatest opportunity of his career, weighed in at 128.8 pounds. Two hours later, given a second chance, he still weighed 128 pounds. The fight was cancelled at that point.

An attempt by the Journal to reach Leo for comment was unsuccessful. But Albuquerque’s Luis Chavez, Leo’s longtime co-trainer, said by phone from Atlanta that the champion was “very upset. … We trained so hard for nothing.”

Leo, Chavez said, “Looked terrific (in training), and then this happened.”

Chavez said Leo had no wish to fight a non-title bout against an overweight opponent.

What’s next for Leo (26-1, 12 knockouts) is anyone’s guess. He last fought on May 24, 2025, when he successfully defended his title with a victory over Tomoki Kameda in Osaka, Japan. Leo had won the title via a victory by 10th-round knockout of then-champion Luis Alberto Lopez at Albuquerque’s Tingley Coliseum on Aug. 10, 2024.

Before the IBF ordered a mandatory title defense for Leo against Aleem, the organization’s No. 1 challenger, a group including Santa Fe promoter Pat Holmes and international promoter Sampson Lewkowicz had been working on a possible title defense for Leo in Albuquerque against South Africa’s Lerato Diamini.

Chavez said he’d been told a fight in Albuquerque is once again a possibility.

Could Leo-Aleem be rescheduled? Perhaps, but trust that Aleem would make weight given a second chance would be low at best. Missing weight for a world title fight by 2 pounds is viewed within the sport as close to unforgivable.

If the IBF were to remove Aleem as the mandatory challenger, elevate No. 2 challenger Omar Trinidad (20-0-2, 14 KOs) of Los Angeles and again order a mandatory defense, there’d be the obstacle of Trinidad’s scheduled June 28 fight against Jarwin Ancajas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Could a title-unification fight be arranged for Leo against one the other three featherweight champions? That, as always when rival sanctioning bodies are involved, is complicated.

Bruce Carrington, who won the WBC featherweight title in January, already has a July 4 title defense scheduled against Rene Palacios.

Rafael Espinoza, the WBO champion, last fought in November. Brandon Figueroa, the WBA champion, upset then-champion Nick Ball in February. Neither Espinoza nor Figueroa has a fight scheduled.

NO TITLE SHOT FOR PEREZ: Aaron Perez, unbeaten Albuquerque flyweight Abraham Perez’s father, trainer and promoter, says his son had signed to challenge Anthony Olascagua for the Los Angeles boxer’s WBO 112-pound title — only to have Olascagua’s camp reject the fight.

“We signed the contract and made the deal,” Aaron Perez said. “However … we got a response from the promoter (All-Star Boxing) saying that Anthony’s team didn’t want the fight.

“Apparently Abraham was a little too dangerous for them.”

No title defense by Olascagua has been scheduled, as per boxrec.com.

Aaron Perez’s company, Legacy Promotions, has a card scheduled for July 31. Because of the offer to challenge Olascagua for a world title, Abraham was not placed on the July 31 card — headlined by Albuquerqueans Josh Torres and Cristian Cabral in separate fights.

Rather than rearrange the Legacy Card, Aaron Perez said he hoped to secure a fight for his son on another card in July.

Abraham Perez (14-0, 7 KOs) does not appear in the most recent WBO flyweight rankings (though that’s not always a barrier to getting a title shot). He’s ranked 12th by the IBF. He last fought on a Legacy Promotions card on April 4, defeating The Philippines’ Esneth Domingo (22-5, 14 KOs) by lopsided unanimous decision.

Daniel Dubois is on the comeback trail once again. It’s a trail he could probably walk blindfolded by now, his size-13 boots filling the mud imprints from his last march along this track. Three times “Dynamite” Daniel has been defeated, and when adversity strikes, all roads lead back to this path. It cannot be circumnavigated. And in the wake of a second loss to Oleksandr Usyk, the trail leads to the outskirts of Manchester, to the Co-op Live, to Fabio Wardley.

If the Dubois who crafted a win streak after his first loss, a TKO by Joe Joyce, was Dubois 2.0, then the heavyweight who did the same after a 2023 KO by Usyk was Dubois 3.0. Saturday may bring version 4.0, then, as the 28-year-old bids to bounce back from his second stoppage by Usyk.

After each of the Briton’s defeats, the question of heart has arisen; when Dubois is forced to swim in deep waters, can he rise back to the surface, or does he simply sink further. This was asked in 2020, when he took a knee against Joyce (although a broken orbital bone seemed a fair excuse); it was asked when Usyk stopped him with a jab three years ago; and it was asked when he was floored twice by the Ukrainian last summer.

The contrary evidence is that an injured Dubois grimaced his way to victory over Kevin Lerena, after climbing off the canvas three times in the first round; that he repeatedly ate Filip Hrgovic’s rampant right hand before forcing a doctor to intervene and save the Croat’s face; and that he survived every second of violence in a 12-round shootout with Jarrell Miller, stopping the American in the dying seconds.

Furthermore, Dubois has won each fight following a defeat, though that stat will be tested on Saturday. If you want to talk about comebacks, you have to talk about Wardley. The WBO champion was seven minutes away from a loss to Justis Huni in June, and four away from defeat by Joseph Parker in October, only to muster the most-miraculous counter offensive on each occasion.

So, Wardley is king of the micro comeback, Dubois of the macro, perhaps.

“Think about it: he’s always come back stronger after defeats,” says the aptly-named Mohammed Ali, Dubois’s head of boxing performance analysis. “It’s in his DNA, you’ve either got it or you don’t,” he adds – a twist on the narrative that Dubois’s make-up is not actually that of a survivor during tough fights.

Ali even references Dubois’s ancestry and the link to Sylvia Dubois, an African-American slave in the 19th century, who earned her freedom as a bare-knuckle boxer. “People criticise certain things about Daniel, but they don’t realise his mindset, resilience and durability. That’s just hardlined.”

This brings us to David Haye, whose durability failed him in his final two bouts – back-to-back stoppages by Tony Bellew – in spite of his mindset. “Boxing fans are harsh,” says the Briton, a former cruiserweight and heavyweight champion. “The fact that I fought with one leg against Bellew... only after I got battered did the purists finally say: ‘Okay, I accept you as a real fighter.’”

While Haye agrees with Ali, saying fighting spirit “cannot be taught, it comes from within”, he refuses to take a definitive stance on Dubois. “You should never judge someone until their career is said and done,” Haye says. “Over time, [that heart] may develop. Sometimes fighters quit or take a knee, and off the strength of the heat from their peers, they’ll never do it again.”

Dubois took a knee against Joyce and then in his first fight with Usyk, for what you feel that’s worth. In any case, I ask Dubois himself whether his first loss to Usyk helped him deal with defeat in their rematch.

Initially struggling to find the right words, he ultimately says: “No, it was just... I think... I look at it like: I shared the ring with a top, top southpaw, top heavyweight, the best of this generation, so I brushed that over me a long time ago. I’m a new fighter now, a new man.”

Ali echoes the sentiment: “That’s in the past. Usyk is an all-time great. When he leaves the sport, his name will be recognised 10-20 years down the line.”

Still, Dubois’s promoter Frank Warren (who also promotes Wardley) doesn’t dismiss the relevance of last summer’s loss to Usyk. “You’ve got to learn from it!” he says. “And he’s very good at that. I think he’s matured a lot physically as he’s got older, but he’s certainly maturing now mentally as far as reading a fight.”

However, Warren also hints at a controversy from that fight week, while trying not to hint at it. “I don’t want to go into what happened behind the scenes and getting there a little bit late,” he says, “because there’s no excuses. What happens, happens on the night.”

Warren, 74, is referencing a pre-fight gathering at Dubois’s family home on the day of the bout. It was referred to by some as a party, and although Dubois’s trainer Don Charles dismissed that label, the consensus from outside observers was that it must have been a distraction.

Charles did not attend the gathering, nor did he try to “justify” it. He said in the days afterwards: “My duty on the training team is to make sure there’s no confusion. This is Wembley we’re talking about; we had to go to the dressing room and make sure everything is intact.”

Within a few weeks, in a shocking development, Charles and Dubois had split. Although the veteran coach had twice failed to mastermind a win over Usyk, he had overseen the finest spell of Dubois’s career. Rumours swirled about the involvement of Dubois’s father, Stan, and whether it was helpful.

But Dubois and Charles reunited in January, after the heavyweight briefly trained under Tony Sims.

“Tony is a magnificent coach,” says Ali. “I work with Conor Benn as well [like Sims], so I adore and respect Tony. He’s one of the best coaches in the country, as is Don. But Tony said it himself: there’s a certain connection that fighters have with a coach, and Don has got that with Daniel. You know who his ‘real’ coach is. Sometimes it goes like that, like Manny Pacquiao with Freddie Roach or Andre Ward with Virgil Hunter.”

Whether or not their connection is comparable to those of the great duos above, Dubois and Charles are still seeking the same success. A second world title is within reach on Saturday.

David Haye was speaking ahead of his exclusive appearance at Paddy’s Sportsbook at The Hippodrome Casino, for Wardley vs Dubois on 9 May.

This weekend, Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois will clash in the kind of fight that always entices boxing fans: an all-British heavyweight title bout.

Wardley enters the main-event showdown with an unbeaten record, having bailed himself out in his last two fights; against Justis Huni then Joseph Parker, the Ipswich boxer was down on the scorecards when he secured late knockouts.

The October win over Parker saw Wardley, 31, win the interim WBO title, which was later upgraded when Oleksandr Usyk vacated the regular belt. And Wardley may be able to edge closer to a fight with Usyk if he can overcome Dubois, 28.

Last time out, in July, Dubois suffered his second stoppage loss to Usyk, dropping the IBF title to the Ukrainian in the process. But Dubois remains a dangerous opponent for anyone in the division, and it feels like a KO is guaranteed when he faces Wardley.

Here’s all you need to know:

When is the fight?

Wardley vs Dubois will take place on Saturday 9 May at the Co-op Live in Manchester. The main card will begin at 6pm BST (10am PT / 12pm CT / 1pm ET), with main-event ring walks following at around 11pm BST (3pm PT / 5pm CT / 6pm ET).

How can I watch it?

The action will stream live on DAZN pay-per-view at a cost of £24.99. You do not need a DAZN subscription to purchase the event, but plans are available here and start at £15.99 per month.

Latest Odds

Betting sites give a slight edge to the champion, with Wardley odds-on for the win over Dubois, who is around the even-money mark with most bookies.

Wardley - 5/6

Dubois - 21/20

Draw - 18/1

Odds via Betfred. The Independent vets betting sites for usability, security and responsible gambling tools. You can claim free bets here to use across a range of sports. Please read the terms.

Fight card in full

Subject to change; ‘C’ denotes champion

Fabio Wardley (C) vs Daniel Dubois (WBO heavyweight title)

Jack Rafferty vs Ekow Essuman (super-lightweight)

Bradley Rea vs Liam Cameron (light-heavyweight)

David Morrell vs Zak Chelli (light-heavyweight)

Khaleel Majid vs Gavin Gwynne (super-lightweight)

Bakhodir Jalolov vs Agron Smakici (heavyweight)

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

For as good a fight as Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois is, is it as two-dimensional as some are claiming? Does it really boil down to “Dubois early or Wardley late”?

It’s an understandable narrative on the face of it, given each man’s recent form, but the truth is, it might not hold up to much scrutiny. So, let’s waste no time.

We’ll address Wardley’s side of this equation first. He will enter Saturday’s WBO heavyweight title defence on the back of two late knockouts – one against Justis Huni in June, the other versus Joseph Parker in October.

These were not just late stoppages, though, with the Ipswich boxer taking out Huni in round 10 and Parker in the 11th; they were comeback KOs, as Wardley trailed on the scorecards on both occasions.

Yet for all their similarities, these finishes can be distinguished, too.

Wardley’s finish against Huni was a true one-punch KO, a mammoth overhand that beat the Australian’s cross for pace, undoing all of Huni’s good work in an instant. In that moment, Wardley was something of a matador, edging backwards slightly while Huni stepped in on his own jab feint and right straight.

Against Parker, there was some controversy. Before the finish in the 11th round, Wardley actually hurt the New Zealander with a sneaky rear uppercut in the dying seconds of the 10th. Wardley could not seal the stoppage then, but midway through the penultimate round, he drew down Parker’s hands with a feinted jab to the chest, before a step-in cross to the chin. The ensuing onslaught was not as accurate from Wardley as it might have been, but there were enough clean shots and enough eye-catching swings to force the referee to intervene.

So, on this occasion, it was more about optics and accumulation than a single-shot, Houdini-esque escape. Still, it was an escape.

Yet Wardley’s two previous outings, a pair of duels with Frazer Clarke, showed that the 31-year-old can be involved in very different types of fights. The first clash with Clarke was a split draw after a hellish 12 rounds, while the rematch ended inside two and a half minutes, as Wardley literally put a dent in his fellow Briton’s head.

In fact, prior to this, many of Wardley’s wins had come via early stoppages, helping him build an overall record of 20-0-1 (19 KOs).

And what of Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs)?

Firstly, his last “early” finish came three years ago, when he stopped Kevin Lerena in round two after challenging fans’ perceptions of his own heart (Dubois had climbed off the canvas three times in round one, battling through a knee injury).

Since then, the 28-year-old has fought five times and gone 3-2. His defeats by Oleksandr Usyk occurred in round nine in 2023 and round five last summer, while his wins came in the fifth frame (Anthony Joshua, 2024), eighth (Filip Hrgovic, 2024) and 10th (Jarrell Miller, 2023).

While some see Dubois as a flat-track bully who does not like to endure a tough fight, the former IBF champ absorbed significant damage against Miller before stopping the American in the final 10 seconds of their bout, and he was also tagged cleanly and repeatedly by Hrgovic before rallying to force a doctor stoppage. He was even buzzed by Joshua in the seconds prior to knocking out his fellow Briton.

So, Dubois does have the capacity to withstand damage, despite any surface-level or lazy narratives around him, and he does have the ability to stop a fight late. Conversely, Wardley is not only a threat in the final few rounds, even if his two bouts in 2025 belie this reality.

Regardless, there is a good chance that this turns into a brawl quickly – and, actually, that a finish arrives in the middle rounds. “A finish” replaces “the finish” here, although the consensus is that Wardley vs Dubois will not go the full distance. But even if the final round is required at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena, who is to say the final bell will be? This fight has been marketed as “Don’t Blink” for a reason.

Eddie Hearn has claimed that Conor Benn turned down three world-title fights against different opponents before leaving Matchroom earlier this year.

In February, Benn was involved in a shock split from Hearn’s promotional company Matchroom, signing with rivals Zuffa Boxing – despite Hearn’s apparent loyalty to the British star during a two-year saga that began with Benn failing two drug tests.

Benn has since fought once, outpointing Regis Prograis in a catchweight bout in April, though he is expected to drop back down to his natural division of welterweight next, having traded middleweight wins with rival Chris Eubank Jr in 2025.

It is unclear whom the 29-year-old will face, although he has repeatedly targeted big names from the US. And now, Hearn has offered a potential explanation for that approach.

Speaking to various outlets, including Boxing News, Hearn said: “When Lewis Crocker won the world [IBF welterweight] title, I was like: ‘Oh, my God. Crocker vs Benn at the O2 [Arena] for the world title!’

“I went to Conor and he was like: ‘Nah, I don’t want that fight’. Then he eventually started talking about the [IBF’s 10lb] rehydration [policy] and all that kind of stuff.

“So, then I was like ‘Rolly Romero’. We had that fight done with [Romero’s manager] Luis DeCubas. Benn was like: ‘It’s not a very big fight.’ I’m like: ‘Mate, you’re getting a [WBA] world-title fight in London. I think you can beat Rolly Romero.’

“‘What about [IBF super-welterweight champion] Josh Kelly at the Stadium of Light?’ [Benn said:] ‘I ain’t fighting f***ing Josh Kelly.’

“I think he knows his limitations, so why would you get beat for small money when you can get beat for bigger money?”

The Independent has approached Benn for comment.

Prior to a points loss to Eubank Jr last April, Benn was unbeaten as a professional. He avenged that loss in November, as the pair returned to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, dropping Eubank Jr en route to a decision win.

Following Benn’s shock move to Zuffa, he was expected to be paired with a big-name opponent, given reports of Zuffa paying him $15m for one fight.

And while Prograis is a former world champion, he did not bring the profile that some fans expected, nor was he fighting at his natural weight or in his prime.

Furthermore, the American – who ventured up in weight to box Benn – carried an injury into his fight with the Briton, who outpointed the 37-year-old in Tottenham. Prograis then retired in the aftermath.