Ben Davison had the towel ready before the opening round was over. In the second, he threw it in as Daniel Dubois battered Fabio Wardley into another defeat to retain his WBO heavyweight title in London on Saturday.

Five months after their bruising first encounter, Dubois needed less than two rounds to settle the rematch, dropping Wardley early and giving him little room to recover.

A heavy right hand sent Wardley to the canvas in the first half of the opening round. He got up and tried to establish his jab, but Dubois kept closing the distance, forcing him backwards with his power and movement.

By the closing stages of the round, Wardley was trapped against the ropes and taking a sustained attack. Davison rose in his corner with the towel in hand, only for the bell to give his fighter a brief escape.

The respite changed little. Dubois charged forward again in the second, backing Wardley up and leaving Davison to intervene.

The victory lifted Dubois to 24 wins, including 23 knockouts, against three defeats. Wardley’s record fell to 20 wins, two losses and a draw.

“Are you not entertained?” Dubois shouted afterwards, before explaining the approach behind his ruthless performance.

“Fabio is a great boy, coming in for the second time, but it was my time and my era. I had my intentions, bad intentions from the beginning,” he said.

Their first meeting in May had demanded far more of Dubois. Knocked down twice, he recovered to stop Wardley in the 11th round and take the WBO belt. This time, he controlled the contest from the start.

Wardley accepted the result and praised his opponent.

“I have always thrown myself in with the best competitors out there,” he said. “The best in the business, the biggest, hardest, meanest guys around so, there is no shame in a loss when you're testing yourself against the best.”

Attention then turned towards a possible unification fight as IBF champion Filip Hrgovic entered the ring for a face-off with Dubois. Hrgovic won his title by stopping Moses Itauma in August.

Promoter Frank Warren has said unification contests await his champions next year, giving Dubois another target after a commanding title defence.