Daniel Dubois weighed in at a career-heavy 18st (115kg) for Saturday's all-British heavyweight showdown with Fabio Wardley at Manchester's Co-op Live. The 28-year-old challenger looked focused but offered little in terms of trash talk, insisting the "talking was done" after a tense face-off. Wardley, who came in at 17st 4lb (110kg), will make the first defence of his WBO title against a dangerous knockout artist.

The pair met at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in what organisers called 'The Cauldron' - a circular, illuminated stage designed to intensify one final staredown in front of several hundred supporters. Dubois twitched his shoulders and constantly fidgeted throughout the face-off, while Wardley rolled his eyes and smiled beside him. The atmosphere was electric with most fans backing the champion.

Wardley took aim at Dubois' previous defeats by Joe Joyce and Oleksandr Usyk, saying: "He didn't do well against Usyk. Once you've opened that door and shown that bit of your character, it leaves people like me to expose it." Dubois had warned: "I'm going to put him to sleep tomorrow." Both fighters boast formidable knockout records, making this a potentially explosive encounter.