Oleksandr Usyk should defeat Daniel Dubois to claim the undisputed world heavyweight title on Saturday night for a number of reasons.
The Ukrainian hasn’t lost a fight in 16 years and is undefeated in all competitions, including Dubois, which he stopped two years ago. British fighters are a staple diet for Usyk. In a packed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2021, he defeated Anthony Joshua to take the title. At the London Olympics, he won a gold medal.
Dubois, a native of London, insists that things will change this time and that his three most recent clinches, including Joshua’s defeat at Wembley in September, demonstrate that he can do Beat Usyk, a feat no other professional has ever done.
The 27-year-old Dubois said, “I’m just on a different level now.” On Saturday, I’m prepared to go through whatever I need and get those belts.
When Usyk (3-0, 14 KOs) places his WBA, WBC, and WBO titles on the line, an expected crowd of 90,000 will be present. He’ll fight to become the two-time undisputed world heavyweight champion after capturing Dubois’ IBF belt.
Lennox Lewis won the title of last British heavyweight champion in November 1999, making it the last time he’d won a major belt.
Usyk values “young guy” Dubois.
In their first fight, Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs), who was unable to defend the Ukrainian southpaw’s jab and who lacked numerous power punches in Wroclaw, Poland, in August 2023, duo Usyk and Dubois (22-2). In the fifth round, Dubois sent Usyk to the box, but the decision was made to consider the punch to be low. In the ninth minute, Dubois’ evening was ended by a straight right turn.
Egor Mekhontsev from Russia won the amateur world championships in September 2009, defeating Usyk.
Usyk shrugged off the rumors that he was getting too old to keep up his success.
Usyk remarked, “I respect this guy, this young man.” “I’m motivated, but this guy isn’t alone.” 38 is not an old man, but I’m not an old man.
The last six of Usyk’s six fights were against British opponents, with victories coming against Tyson Fury, the Dubois stoppage, Anthony Joshua victories in a row, and then Zimbabwe-born boxer Derek Chisora, who was born in Zimbabwe.
Only one of his heavyweight fights featured a non-British opponent, which was Chazz Witherspoon of the United States in his division debut in October 2019.
Usyk is content to compete on Dubois’ own turf in London.
At Wembley, Usyk declared, “I’m happy to be here again.”
He has a good reason to be.
At the 2012 London Olympics, he won an Olympic gold medal. He won the amateur European title in the light heavyweight category four years prior to his victory in Liverpool.
In his final fight at cruiserweight, Usyk defeated Tony Bellew of Liverpool in Manchester. In 2020, he defeated Chisora at Wembley Arena.
Joseph Parker said he would use more combinations and pressure on Usyk than Chisora did five years ago.
After the news conference on Thursday, Parker said, “I think this fight depends on how Dubois appears.” In his previous three fights, we saw him become much more self-assured of his abilities in the ring.
Dubois was scheduled to defend his title against Parker in February, but he resisted the invitation due to a medical issue.
Dubois’ father, Stanley, who also plays Dave in his son’s career, continues to have a significant influence on him. Caroline Dubois, who is also a world champion boxer, was one of his children’s parents who backed home education. About two years ago, Caroline Dubois told The Associated Press that it was either that or that she would have ended boxing and be in a “really bad mental place.”
Riz Khan, Daniel Dubois’ manager, claimed that one person is responsible for his fighter’s success since losing to Usyk.
“We have all the credentials to support Daniel in the background, so we have to acknowledge that his father, Stan Dubois, has clearly guided the resurgence, whether it be from a management perspective or from a coaching perspective,” Khan said.
Dubois’ attempts to talk about things seem more like box-checking than being a man, such as when he grinned when he yelled “And the new”! this week in Usyk’s face. There was a slow-motion shove of Usyk that wasn’t strong enough at the time.
He’s still the same type of person he was before the Joshua fight, which Dubois was awestruck by.
