5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce - Wardley v Dubois: Inside the Wardley Camp

Episode Date: May 5, 2026

Can Fabio Wardley make a successful first defence of his WBO heavyweight world title? Buncey sits down with Wardley ahead of Saturday’s fight with Daniel Dubois to discuss the pressure, preparation and what’s at stake. Plus, we hear from his long-time coach, Rob Hodgins, who offers a unique insight into the fighter.

This is Five Live Boxing. The heavyweight boxing week has started in Manchester. Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois. They fight on Saturday at Co-Up Live. They've been on an open top bus. It's a familiar thing. They duck the trees, they wave at people, they shout down at people, people shower them.

You know the story. You know the way it works. But these two, there's no love lost. On Saturday, they fight for the WBO heavyweight title. They'll also be this week, the public work. They're public, that means the public can come. Then there'll be a press conference and that'll be tasty, don't worry about that. Then there'll be a way in, that'll be mundane, straightforward, and then there'll be the

fight at the Co-op Live on Saturday. Now I met up with Fabio Wardley and the man who discovered him and the man who's been by his side the whole time, Rob Hodgins. It's a special fight this. There's no love lost and they are both, as the cliche goes, knockout artists. I'll hear from Daniel later in the week. This is all about the champ. King Fab of Ipswich.

I'm Steve Bunce and this is Five Live Boxing. First of all, you look good, you look sharp, you look happy. I've never asked you yet and I'm going to ask you now, what's Fight Week like for Fabio Ward? What are the last three days like, the Thursday, the Friday, the Saturday? And do you think, do you sense any difference in the way you've been previously in a fight week? For me, my main, I guess main mantra or main feeling about it is just keep it normal. And that's the way I've always been about it from the beginning, from when I first got into it,

when it was first lights, cameras, action, and interviews and this and the rest. And to where it is now, on the headline and pay-per-view shows and all the same, it's just keep it casual, keep it calm, keep it fun between me and the team. We're always having laughs, always having jokes. Don't get too carried. Don't get too wrapped up in it. Don't take it too seriously. Don't, there's already,

there's already a large amount of pressure on me anyway. Don't chuck more on top. Don't pile more on top. Just, look, enjoy the moment that you're in, the privileged position that I'm in, and just keep it cool, keep it fun, keep it like. There's this, the series business comes Saturday night. And when there's time to lock in,

I know I've got that switch. I know I can just turn it on and go and hit that mode. But until then, it's just a slow ride. There's no need to waste any extra energy for me. Did it help being around some of Dillian White's big fights to sort of semi-prepared you for what it's like in the week of a big, big night and a big fight? Suddenly, when you walked out, say, against Parker last year,

it wasn't the first time you'd walked out into a massive arena on a massive night. You'd been there, you'd been in entouragees or groups or whatever. Does that help? Yeah, yeah, no, massively. Deal and the management team and all the guys around me did a fantastic job in terms of building me into that, of putting me on big shows,

but I wasn't at the forefront. I was just there. So I get to take it in from a peripheral vision, but the focus isn't on me. The cameras aren't pointed at me, the questions are directed at me, but I'm on the sideline,

I get to absorb it, and then I get a bit closer in and I'm maybe higher up with the bill a few fights in, and I get a bit more attention, and then I'm a bit higher up on the bill, and I'm to support, denim headlining,

denim headline paper view, and then it's been an incremental where it hasn't all just been thrown in my face, where I've been able to kind of take time and absorb it, and that was, again, like I say, There's a bit of the information that the team, but Dill and everyone gave to me,

was like, don't put more pressure on your shoulders than is already there. Don't pump it up to yourself. Don't, this is the biggest night of my life. It needs to be able and get all too carried away. Like, there's already enough. The world is really going to put enough pressure on your shoulders. Don't add more to you. I mean, for a, you know, you've obviously been a confident kid.

Or you've been a confident boy. You're a confident child. Confident young man. You're a confident fighter. You're a confident champion. But there is, as you say, an awful lot of pressure out there. an awful lot of requests, an awful lot of commitments that you have to fulfill. Has it become more difficult or you're just adjusting to it as you're going on?

You're still trying to take it in your stride? Because it's almost hard to believe that you could take it in your stride and still be Fabio. Yeah, look, I think I do my best to try and take it in my stride and crack on with it and not change too much with it, not look at it any too differently. That's not taking yourself too seriously as part of that as well as, you don't understand. One thing for, especially if you've, I think you know my team and the people around me, there's no way I can take myself too seriously at all, not with the, I've done well. Robb's gives you a bit of stick, doesn't it?

Yeah, yeah. I've done well to once around myself with people that keep me level-headed in the sense of I don't get too big for my boots because they'll, they'll quite easy, world champion or not, they'll clip me around the back of their head. But also, though, they don't let me get too, they don't let things get too serious, too hype, too big-up or anything like that either. We all just keep it in a very nice. look, we're enjoying where we are, we're happy where we are,

and make improvements, but don't get too carried away with what got us here. If it worked before, it can work again. Just because it's a big fight now and it's paper view and it doesn't mean we need to overhaul the whole system and do it all again. Stay the team, stay the course. Now, this fight is part of a very short history,

all British World Heavyweight Championship fights. Now, we worked it out that I think there's been seven, and you were born for six of them. The one you missed, I think, was Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno. That was just before you were born. 94. Yes, it was 93. Just before, yeah.

Your mum was probably pregnant with you. Yeah. She might have listened to it on the radio. You never know. Maybe I heard it. Listen, I would claim it. No, no matter what you'd do, say, I wasn't around. I wasn't there, but I didn't hear about it.

I spoke to my mum and she can clearly remember sitting down that night and listening to it. But some of them have been incredible scraps and some of them have been mildly forgettable. you know, Henry Akinwandi and Scott Welsh was a tough fight to watch. You know, both good, earnest pros, but a tough fight, tough fight to watch. This one threatens to be right at the very top. Yeah, look.

Potentially. Yeah. And you're smiling, but you know what I mean, but I know, because I love it, because I had this conversation the other day. One, separately about just British world heavyweight champions. Yeah. I think the number is 12.

Yeah, it sounds about right. I think I'm number 12. Yeah, that'd be about right. Even that stat on its own was like mind-blown. One for me, but whoever I was talking to, they were absolutely stunned by it as well. And then like you say, an all-British dust up for a World Heavy White title,

like, it is history book stuff and it's like stuff that gets you me excited to know that my, like, they'll be for generations and boxing has been around for like hundreds of years and it will carry on, but people will look back through the ages and they'll go, oh, Christ. Remember that Fabio, that Wardley de Bois fight?

Jesus, remember that one? They're the ones I love. And I know, yeah, and they take it out of your and you feel it in the moment and on the night and the weeks following. But, like, people always ask me, like, even to this day, they go, what's your favorite fight? Like, it must have been, like,

the Fraser Clark II fight or the Park fight. And I say, do you know what it was? It was Fraser 1. Yeah. It was that war. That rocky war. 17 rounds, it was, at least. Yeah, I look back to it.

And I'll tell you what, like, I'm proud of myself and take it wrong I'm proud of myself for a lot of the things I've done but I look at that fight and I go now you know what you earn that one

but that's a real one that's one that people will look back on and go that was generally places you'd never been before genuinely places yeah where you'd never been before

and you and same place phrasing you both dragged each other into some yeah you need the right dance partner as well and again my story will never be the same

without him and us having that that those 13 rounds, but especially them 12. Yeah. And then, of course, after the two Fraser fights, there were the two fights where, which were terrific fights, but you were losing

them before you turned, turned it round. But you still weren't panicking, even though we were late in both fights. I mean, you were looking for an ending, but you weren't panicking. You weren't chasing them around, you know, like a headless chicken. You were still trying to box your way to a win. It's because I'm problem solving.

And it's like a Q&A and everything that I'm getting wrong is, an answer. It's like, okay, that doesn't work. During fights your problem solving, aren't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And as at one, there's a multitude of things going on, but one, I'm in the ring on my own. So I'm problem solving for myself. And also, so I can see different things that the corner can see. So they can, they say, hey, this isn't working because you're an X, Y, Z. And I'm in there and I'm going, actually, that isn't working

because he's doing this. And it takes a level of back and forth, back and forth, that's not working, that's not working, that's not working. Okay, he's doing a bit of this now. What if I try this? And then there's a, it's a constant question back and forth. I move here. Again, I know it's very old and people say a lot, boxing here's like chest, but it is because I move that piece there, how are you going to

respond? And then if you notice it, okay, you do that, okay, let me just double check that again. Like, for example, the Hoonify, I could explain to you in absolute depth and detail how them last 20 seconds went.

Because I know exactly what I did. Because you've done it earlier on, you tried it earlier on. I tested it. Yeah, but I tested it in the fight. Yeah, of course. I went,

let me try this. Boom. Oh, you do that. Hmm. Okay, let me just, let me try it again.

Boom. Are you still doing it? Okay, fine. All right, here you go. Here's another one. Womp, one, bang.

Then bang. Knock out. Great. And all, and oh, he got the punch in the last minute, but it wasn't, it was that punch.

Don't give me wrong. But it was also the 30 seconds beforehand where I was like, let me just double check that with you. Are you still doing that? you feel comfortable with that. Just one more. Let me have a look.

Okay, fine. No worries, I've got you. Let me just... One, warm, mum. And then there. So it takes a level of composure, but also faith in yourself, one, in yourself, in the team,

that you can carry it through. And that's why, one, I train so hard because I want to be able to... I'd hate to be able to be in the 10, 11, 12th round and see the perfect moment, but my body can't take me there. because I haven't trained hard enough or I haven't got it in the tank

or I can see the punch just right there but I can't throw it. Can't go through it or like that would destroy me more. I'd rather just end myself in the gym training hard rounds hard rounds, put it all in and then at least I know and it's proven and then it's a marker set as well so someone like

like the fight with Daniel for example them as a team they will know Fabio Wardley is dangerous from round one to round 12 and he's not proven at once he's proven it twice three times over yeah so that is also a marker for the rest of the world to know. So you're letting them know as well?

It's not just, oh, you tell you what? We get past five or six for Fab. You know what he's like? He drops off. No problem. So you get for them first six, fight's yours. And it's not that with me.

That's 12, three round fights. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every round, every minute, every round, every second, you have to be on the ball because I will catch you if not. I mean, I've been saying for years that you've been learning during fights

and you're just openly saying that's exactly what you do. You're learning, you're adjusted and changing. You're not leaving the ring and sitting down with, Rob Hodkins later on and going through something. You're doing it before flights. You mentioned something there and I appreciate your time this close to a fort,

this late in a camp. How does the three-trainer sort of routine work? You've got Rob, you got Lee Wiley, you got Ben. How does it work for you, Fab? It works perfectly, to be honest. Yeah. And the reason being is because there are no egos. There's no one-mon top.

Or if anything, I'm the biggest ego and that's because I'm the fighter. But in terms of the team, we as a unit, that is what we are, we're a unit. We are one. Everyone's on the same page. We're moving towards the same goal. No one's, Rob's not, we're not doing a session. And then Rob's pulling me to the side and go, actually, forget what they said over there. I want you to do this, this, this, this, this.

Or Ben's not pulling me over and going, don't listen to Rob today, right? What we need to do is this is, we're all. That's rare in boxing. That's rare in boxing, sad. And it is, it is. And it takes one, from two sides of it. One from Rob takes an incredible amount of humility

and courage in a sense Because you came over after what, the Molina fight, something like that or about that time? It was just before the Nathan Gorman fight. So my first fight with Ben was the British title fight with Nathan Gorman. And I remember having a conversation with Rob and saying, look, we're moving into a higher level now.

We need more experience. We need someone who's been there, seen, done it. before and I've always felt like usually in that circumstance a fight would just leave and go to a different trainer. Of course, yeah, standard. But I've always felt like, well, if I can learn, why can't my trainer learn? That doesn't make sense. It's so brilliantly obvious. The complicated bit of it is, is going to a new trainer and saying, hey, I would like to be with you, but I also want to bring him to him being my trainer. That's generally the stumbling block straight away. Yeah, but again, that's where I speaks to a huge amount of humility on both sides in terms of Ben and in terms

of Rob for them both to know that there's no egos there's no thing. It's purely based on me and wanting to see me succeed and do well and everyone have an evening and even share of it and a single focus and a single woman and again Lee Wiley comes into that as well. It's no one's trying

to get one over or the cameras out and jump in front of the guy and be ahead of it and known to be the main man. Quite a reverse. Literally everyone on my team is actually quite standing back. They're quite able to let me be 15 paces ahead And they just stand back as their little team, their little unit,

and they do their thing. So, yeah, look, I can't give enough credit to Ben, Lee, and Rob, all three of them because, like you say, it's extremely unique in boxing. I don't know if I know of another team that does it, or that can put it off. I can't put it off. So, yeah, it takes a lot of humility and just, I don't know the word, kind of the opposite of ego, but whatever that way. Can I throw in common sense?

Yeah, yeah, also. Because it really works for you. And it clearly works. And we're just a good team. We're just a good team when we gel well and we get on well. And we're honest. I think that's the key thing as well is honesty. I remember the first time I came up here to have a meeting with Ben about working with him.

And the first question he asked me was, does Rob know you're here? Meaning like, well, I'm not doing this kind of a hand in anyway. We're being playing here. Does Rob know you're here? Because I know we're having this conversation, but I'm not trying to sneakily pull you away from here. So, yeah, look, again, I make sure I surround myself with the right carriages, people with the right intentions and right heart.

So go, let's get to Saturday night. You arrive at the arena. How, how, what sort of time do you like to get there? Do you have a really big set Fabio routine on fight night? Or is that, does that, is that fluid as well? Yeah, it's relatively fluid. Good, maybe two, three hours early. Okay.

Something like that. Settling to my changing room, wandering. have a little wonder around, settle down, sit down for a minute, get everything set up, my clothes, boots, this, that, get my kind of whole arrangement. Noel Gallagher comes in and says hello. Obviously, it's obligatory. It's in Manchester.

Yeah, guaranteed. Maybe a few people. I usually get Mark Ashton from the Football Club, Chairman Ibschistown Football Club, who usually come to say hello, a few other characters. A couple like that, but again, not too many. Again, I don't want too many. I don't need my door constantly on a revolving door.

and out, everyone coming in and out. I don't like that. I like it calm. I like my team. Everyone always finds it funny when they come into my change room as well because especially when you do the

hand wraps for the opposing team. So they send in someone to observe it. And I've had so many comments, so many times of like, what the hell? Because I'm getting my handswraps and my music prior to fight night, prior to getting in the ring, it will swap about 20 minutes to half

an hour before but for the whole two hours two and a half hours of the buildup is like slow jams old school r&B like real old sing songs yeah and people are like the other team are like we're basically falling to sleep here like what are you trying to do serenade like the other power balance yeah like what you're doing you think you're going to serenade your opponent and i'm like no i just like to like move slow into it like i know i can build into the energy i don't need to walk into my change room like right Punching walls. I'm in the change room now. Like build up.

Just take it nice and easy. Everything's good. Everything's fun. We've done the prep. We've trained. We're ready. We're good. Again, take the moment in, enjoy it, roll in.

And then the last kind of half an hour or so. Then you'll feel the switch. Then you'll feel the build. But I don't like to jump there too early. I feel like it's wasted energy for me. You could do three hours of just too much. Yeah. Yeah.

Absolutely. I mean, am I going to be in pent up for three hours? And you get into the ring. and you're exhausted, like. And this is going to be the first time you're going to walk to the ring as the world heavyweight champion. 22,000 people, all those twinkling camera lights

like walking out to the Milky Way, all that noise, all that adrenaline. It must be a massive smile on your face, a satisfied look and smile on your face at that point. Yeah, like in the back of my brain, you won't see it in my, you won't see it on my face on the ring walk, but in the back of my brain I'm looking up and going, you know what, Fab?

Not bad, son. We've not done bad in, mate. You're looking around. That's a great line. My brain is going, you know what? You've done all right. You're doing all right, mate. You're doing all right, man.

You're doing the right. But on my face is deadpan, stoic, focused on the ring. You do a really good switch. When you're quite unpleasant, you're quite unpleasant. Yeah, I can turn it on and off. I saw you switch. I saw you switch the other night at the boxing when you thought someone was being a bit out of order with Michael Opho.

Yeah, I saw you switch your face. Oh, I mentioned it on air. Whoa, won't go into names, but I saw that look on your face for a second. You're laughing now. You weren't laughing now. It's a... Ooh, you're about to go over a table.

It can. Yeah, I saw it. It can. I have it well under control and well in the pocket, but I can't open the cage for it whenever needed. I saw it in. Don't worry about that. Ding, ding, first round, what happens?

Well, straight in. Yeah. Straight in, stuck in. No playing around. No feeling out. No finding out. Let's just... Look, we're going to find out who really wants it.

Who really wants to have a go for it. And with me, I don't need to answer those questions, but I'm just going to show it to you anyway. I'm going to give it to it. I'm going to lay it all out bare for you anyway, for everyone to see. So it's going to be for him to find out if he wants to come and meet me

and he really wants to come and dig it out if he wants to be that. Because, again, something I've proven, I guess I wouldn't say there's gamesmanship in it, but this known about me is, again, I'm one, I'm dangerous from all rounds. I'm always in the fight. And you're going to know one way or another, even if you feel like, again,

just as who knew Joseph Parker, they lost the fight, but all the way through, they knew they were in a fight as well. No matter what, even if it's going to go in your way, you're going to know that you're in a fight. You're going to come out of that fight the next day

and go, Christ, I was in a fight last night. Jesus, Fabio Audie, like, didn't leave me alone, didn't get discouraged, wouldn't stop punching, wouldn't stop going, just even,

I was boxing his head off and he just didn't turn away, him back at me again. Like, they're always, and the next day, they're always going to have that in the head. So, People watching the tape on me and stuff, you're going to know, you're going to hear that bell.

And as soon as Daniel hears that bell, he's going to go, okay, here we go then. I'm in a fight. Like, it's not going to be, no matter what circumstance, no matter how it plays out, it's never going to be an easy night's work for him, no matter what. I'm not a soft touch for no one in this division. So, let's find out who's up to the task. Daniel Dubois has been around a long while. He seems to have been around an awful long while.

what do you think of him as a fighter but you weren't fighting what would you think what do you think about Daniel Dubois I think he's a good fighter as a fighter I think he's one of the best out there

again plays into the reason that's the why I picked him and I think he's a very good fire he does a lot of the basics very well I think that is also a plus and a minus for him as that he does the basics well but then

I think sometimes as is evident in his performances outside of that he does lack him imagination. I think that way where things can become problematic for him. But overall, he's one of the best fighters out there. And I've got to ask you this, and I don't like to look forward, not really looking forward. It's just a general question. When I was at Ben Davidson's gym, I noticed that AJ's got his gloves over there and Moses Atama's got his gloves over there. And people are talking about

it. What if you and Moses inevitably end up heading towards sharing a ring? Is it something that's been discussed or is it just something that you just say, if it happens, deal with it when it happens. Yeah, look, I understand us, I'm a boxing fan as well, so I understand how ravenous they can be and how much they crave a good fight and they look at styles and they look at two fighters and they go, that's a great match.

And it's like, yeah, stylistically, you take them two fighters and you put them together, that would probably be a great fight, of course, but situationally, circumstances, there's a realism of the real world that we live in and it's not right now, especially, it's not a question. Um, we're, we're in two different places as to where I am a world champion, looking to get through Daniel, we're looking to push on to the likes of Alexander Usick would be target number one, but Tyson Fury, AJ, maybe those type of names.

Whereas Moses is, don't you wrong, inches away from becoming a wild champion, but he isn't yet. So he's aiming here and I'm aiming up there and we're in different places and say, yeah, okay, great. He will grab a world title, I'm sure, one day, but there's still four of them flying around. So then the real question comes, okay, maybe, and I've got two, and he's got two, then maybe we start to have a serious conversation, or we just pretend like we're brothers and we do an old clitchcoes and we just kind of hang on to them and just do defence after defences for defence or something like that. Who knows? But right now, for the next few years at least, it's an N. It's a no-void question. Fabio, thanks so much for your time. Cheers, mate. Thank you.

So that was Fabio Wardley. Now I'm with the man who I was talking about early on, who's been with him for ever. Rob, and I mean forever, Rob, when did you and Fabio first hook up, meet up, start working together? It's kind of two stories, Steve. The first one was I met Fab for a project called Posit Futures. He was playing on a football project at the time

and he was about six foot back then at the age of 12 or 13 and I took him off the football pitch as a project. We did boxing, football, rock climbing and I took him off and I took him off the project and I said to it. He did fancy football, didn't he? Yeah, he was a, he was a, he was a,

He had me football at the time. So I was a boxing coach by trade, but they had me there. And we took him off. I subbed him, and he had a little bit of look at me. And I said, do you think you could take me, Fab? And he went, think, I know. And then we've had a relationship since then. Go on, son.

Yeah. So he was, what? Why, as you say, it was 12 or 13? And about 6 foot. Yeah, about 6 foot. And you were an adult man. Yeah, I thought an adult man who boxed a little bit. He had a few inches on you still.

He had a few inches on me, yeah. Everyone has a few inches on me. See, there's no need for that. And that's why we have Barry Jones on the pod all the time because as he says, yeah. In fact, he always mentions you. He said, yeah, I think the only man short of me is Rob. Yeah, he's right.

And how did it all start? Because, I mean, we've done, we've overdone all the white collar stuff. But when at what point, once he'd turn pro, did you think, you know what? You know, he's learning faster. He's adapting. He's changing. He's becoming a top pro. The thing with it is he had no amateur experience, as you well know.

Yeah. So I said to him, well, he said to him, wanted to go down the amateur route but he was offered this pro contract I think at the time... Oh, did you want to go down the amateur room? I wanted to go down the amateur room. Because you knew it was priced.

Price of preparation? I was an amateur coach by trade and he was doing some of the white collar and some of the gyms you get white collar pro and pro-am gyms as well so I was a part of the amateur trade to sell out of talent. He got offered to turn pro

he goes to me, okay, do you want to do this? I'll do it, but let's go amateur for a bit. He went, nope, I'm going to do it. Very stubborn. I went, okay, if we're going to do this, we need to go spa. the very best in the country and learn on the job.

Yeah, which I've often said that you get the sense sometimes with Fabio that he's learning during the fights. Yeah. He's actually like trying things that don't work in round one that he's trying to make work in round two and three. He's stubborn enough if it doesn't work round one.

He's stubborn, he will try. He needs to get it off. Yeah, it's stubborn. Stubborn's a really good word for what he does in those fights that, you know, which are hard and tough, especially some of the last couple have been like that way really hard.

Did you always have faith in, say, the Justice Hooney fight and the Joseph Parker fight, that he could turn it around at the end? The Justice Hooney fight was a little bit scary, but we did rule that scenario with Ben and Lee Wiley many times. Where we'd be behind? Yeah, we were behind that punch. We're a little faint.

Justice will gallop in, and we can catch him with the right hand. But obviously, we said we wanted to wait until around 10, 11 to do that. We would have been lying. Yeah. It doesn't matter. It just be joining a big club, you know? I always tell people, listen, if you've got a massive prediction, give it to me now.

Don't give it to me at midnight when the fight's over, because everyone's right at midnight. So what is it? You mentioned being stubborn there, but what else is it about Fabio that makes him so different? Because this is an interview that maybe we should have done five or six years ago. What is it that makes him so different now that he is the World Heavyweight Champion?

I think it's his mindset. I remember going to Spar Tyson Fury about eight years ago, and I'm like, you need to build on your own. A game and he's like, well, so does he. It's that mindset he's always had. He's, you know, you... Do you know, like, that's his mindset. And I'm like, you know, this is like,

you know, this is around the time Tyson would clinch go and stuff like that. And it was Prime Tyson, you know, and he's like, we went down there. I like to say to you that we've got the better of Tyson, but we didn't. But he was like, he's always had that confidence and belief. I've trained many amateurs that were a lot more skilled

than him. And, you know, being down the England route but confidence goes a long way and I'm starting to realize with big lads as well yeah confidence goes a long way and I think you know he doesn't he hasn't got quitting him you know you'll have to nail him to that canvas and now that he's at this level

we're not talking about getting there you know he's at this level he's at several fights now at this level I mean five or six really good competitive fights and especially the parker one last time and this one against Dubois you know world heavy hotel the defence how different is he to the boy that challenge He's due all those years ago.

He told you he could handle you comfortably. I think he's the same boy, but he's learned on the job. He's getting an experience. I think his boxing IQ is very underrated. He studies as a student of the game. He watches his fights. We do the videos with Lee Wiley and Ben, and he's just a proper student.

And he's still learning. And he takes it all in. He absorbs it like a sponge. Was that a bit of an education for you as well? Because Moses Atama talks about Lee Wiley and Ben. And he told me once, and he leant forward. He went, Spuncy said, it's like cheating.

Yeah. So was it an experience for you as well? I mean, as an experience, you know, you were an experienced trainer, then suddenly you're sitting down with these guys

and they're breaking down stuff that perhaps you hadn't looked at in the past. Oh, different level. I watch a lot of boxing. I grew up watching boxing. I studied boxing. I watched the videos.

I'm sitting with these guys is a different level and I'm sitting there. It's like a game from me. I'm watching a movie for the first time. These guys are just next level and, you know,

I'm learning all the time as well. And it, and it, And is Fabio respondent to that? Or was he reluctant? Was he a reluctant convert to that much? No, no. He was he straight in.

When we come down to Ben's, we come down to see Ben after the Molina fight. Yeah. And there was a lot of mistakes in the Molina fight. And Fab said, we're going to go see Ben. He goes, do you have any objections? I went, nope. He went to go see Ben. Ben sat us down.

We sat Fab down first and went through the Molina fight with him. Here's where your mistakes. Here's where you can do well. And then from there we built from there. And that seems to me the way that Fab is, that he'll correct any mistakes. As I say, I'm sure I've seen him adjust things during the fights. In the parker fight, I thought he was adjusting his feet and doing stuff during the fight.

So it's quite an unusual relationship, you know, with you sticking, still being with him, and then you're working here full time with, or full time for these flights, with Ben and with Lee. I mean, it's a very adult relationship. It is. Quite encouraging. Yeah, you don't see that in boxing no more. That's the point I'm getting at, Rob, yeah. You know, and rightfully so sometimes

a boxer feels like he may have outgrown his train, his train, you can't do more, or vice versa. And I think it's what he's done is he's stuck by me, he goes, okay, if I'm going to learn, we can learn together. Are you up for learning? And I'm at the stage. I know some boxing training is either my way or the highway. His way is like, you know, if you're not open to learning,

then how can you love the sport? We've all got to learn together. And now, as he comes into Fight Week, And as you get closer to the fight, are there certain signs, tells that you look for in the final 48 hours, 12 hours, 12 hours, 6 hours? Are there things that you like to see from Fad that you've seen in the past?

What we do really, the fight week is we try and keep it the same. If he's relaxed, if he's a little bit tense, we might go for a walk, but he's not being tense. We keep the band high. I don't know if you've seen our relationship. We have a good back and forth. And obviously, if I go, I see him, and I feel it's a little bit tense,

to go, right, cool, everyone clear out. We're going to go for a walk. You know, just trying to keep him nice and relax. He's very calm as it is. Sometimes he's a little bit too calm. We might have to get him up. But just making sure it's nice and routine and not too much, you know.

So Rob, does a fighter in a fight like this, you know, in a world title fight like this with real sort of, you know, with a lot at stake and a hard fight, do you want to see a little bit of edge in Fab? Or is he not the guy that gives you anything, gains anything by having that edge? I think, perhaps not the type to, you know, lose his temper.

He's very good in a way. He's not afraid. No. He's not dealt with. And I think him, that could go wrong against him. I think being calm and not panicking is what goes. He's very calm. You can't ride him.

Yeah. And he's always been like, as a kid, you know, you can't write. I've tried to. Would you sub them? Yeah, when I subbed him, yeah, he'd like calmly telling me he. Just think, if he'd have clocked you when he, when you subbed him then, he would have vanished into the ether. We wouldn't be talking now.

We wouldn't be talking now. You'd be training kids somewhere in South. Fabio would be, well, Gordon, I'd be him. So he kept his calm then and didn't give you, and didn't... I would have pressed charges, I think, Steve. Yeah, you would have had to him, yeah. You couldn't have press charges, but he's, he may be big, but he's big for 12. That's never going to hold him in the police stations.

I couldn't run away because he was very fast as well, so I understand this far. I understand this far. I also understand because you've been shot by various people in the gym. Tell me the tattoo story. Oh, so, yeah, thanks to Shabazz for putting me into that as well. He's got a suit. You're right in it? Yeah, so what is, we had a bet when he first turned over.

I said to him, you're not going to go through sparring without getting dropped. I go, this is part of your past. As we discussed earlier on, as part of your past, you're going to learn. Don't take it offensively, it's there. He said to me, if he wins an area title without getting dropped in sparring, an area title, I love it. You're going to have to get a tattoo on your arm. So I said, okay, let's step up and let's go for the English.

So here, I'm going to show this now. hold the mic if you look at the top it's a bit faded it's got fadbbs 2020 yeah he won the english title yeah yeah so the bet continued we had another bet to go for the british title yeah and the last one and the final one was the world title but i'm scared of needles so like so so so so it's a real it's a real pain for you yeah yeah have you had one for this fight is there i'm done i've got i've got small arms see we've got nowhere else to put it you know like um When the bell sounds, first bell, in front of what I think is one of the best arenas in the world that can car.

I love that arena, and I know you do too. What happens, first bell? I think Daniel comes along. Daniel, the same way he started with AJ and Yusuki comes out, and I think Fab's going to meet him, and I don't think it's going to go part, in my personal opinion, it's not going to go past four or five rounds. I just think they're both tailor-made to bring a lot of carnage in that fight.

Ideally, I'd like to see a boxing match as well, but I don't think it's going to go, if I'm being completely honest with you. Taylor made for carnage. Yeah. And then after that, assuming that is the way it ends with Fab with a spectacular stoppage, that makes him a massive attraction,

a massive, you know, not quite the heavyweight division's cash cow, but it makes him a massive proposition for anybody. Oh, yeah, there's the fights for him out there as well. The fights for him, he's got, obviously, the dream was Yusik. Yeah. I think Yusik, after the park,

rightfully so, not a big fight for him, and I get that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that sounds like that. Vladimir did the same a few times with Manny around him, just saying,

you know, that's maybe not the fight for you, maybe not the fight for you. And now he may have to take notes. It depends how Fabio wins this fight as well, and to make it to take notice, there's good fights with Cabio out there. You know, obviously we share a stable with Moses.

Yeah. So, you know. I'd say what? What a business? What a business? What a business to be a heavyweight and attached to a heavyweight, this is right now. Oh, heavyweight division is amazing at the moment.

So, like, literally the best fights out of, we were talking about this earlier on. Even without Fab, me being as coach, I'm a fan. Watch it everyone. And listen, before I let you go, I talked about what, if there's any changes in Fab's mood in the last six hours, 12 hours. But take me through the three hours in the dressing room.

Lee Wiley's there, Ben's there, you're there. Who does what, and how does that work? So we have the great famous Adam Giggly wraps his hands. You know Adam well. Yeah, of course, yeah. And then just we'll watch a bit of videos with Lee Wiley and Ben. And me and Ben will take them on the pads. But we're doing the pads.

We're dissecting at the same time. Okay, this is what you need to do. I'll hold the pads. Ben will dissect and vice versa with Lee Wiley coming as well. So we work very well as a team as a free. You know, it's good having them to on board, you know. Both my IQ has gone up and so is fabs. Well, listen, it's an absolute pleasure talking to you.

Thank you very much, Steve. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome to the Wayne Rooney Show. Wayne Rooney, Kay Kerr and me, Kelly Somers, break down the biggest stories in the Premier League and beyond. He's gone in quite quick, but he hasn't caught him high. I just don't think it's the red cards.

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