Top Heavyweight Title Rematches Ranked Ahead of Dubois vs. Wardley II

Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley meet Saturday for the IBF heavyweight title following a first encounter that saw Dubois batter Wardley.

Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley are scheduled to meet Saturday in a world heavyweight title rematch for the IBF belt. This second encounter follows an initial fight earlier this year where Dubois battered Wardley. ESPN has ranked the top historical heavyweight title rematches, placing the 14-round "Thrilla in Manila" between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at number one. In that 1975 bout, Ali retained his WBA and WBC titles after trainer Eddie Futch pulled a nearly blind Frazier at the end of the 14th round.

The list highlights other significant historical results, such as Evander Holyfield’s 1997 disqualification victory over Mike Tyson in their second meeting. Tyson was disqualified in the third round by referee Mills Lane for biting Holyfield's ears twice. The rankings also feature Tyson Fury’s two victories over Deontay Wilder: a seventh-round TKO in their 2020 rematch and an 11th-round knockout in their 2021 trilogy finale.

Recent undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk appears twice on the list for his rematch victories. Usyk defeated Anthony Joshua in Jeddah via split decision with scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 113-115. More recently, Usyk secured a 116-112 victory on all three scorecards in his second fight against Tyson Fury. Other notable entries include Joe Louis’s 124-second knockout of Max Schmeling in 1938 and Lennox Lewis’s fourth-round revenge knockout of Hasim Rahman in 2001.