Daniel Dubois has waited almost two years for this moment, the chance to once again get in a professional ring with Oleksandr Usyk.
On July 19 the 27-year-old Londoner (22-2) will face off with Usyk (23-0) for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world, boxing’s biggest prize.
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On fight night it will be 23 months since Dubois was stopped in nine rounds by Usyk in their first meeting in Poland, a controversial loss after what had happened earlier that night.
Low blow controversy rages on
It was in Round 5 that mayhem ensued when Usyk crumpled to the canvas after being hit by a Dubois body shot, or so the British star thought. Instead it was ruled a low blow, and the Ukrainian genius was given time to recover instead of a count.
Eventually Oleksandr would dig deep as ever to roar back for that stoppage win, but the arguments about that ‘body shot’ in Round 5 rage on.
The topic was again a hot one when the two fighters and their camps met for their first press conference to announce their July 19 unification fight at Wembley Stadium. It still cuts deep with Dubois.
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“Yeah (I was cheated) but it is in the past now. It happened and I get the chance to put that wrong right and clear up the controversy,” he said.
“There is a lot of sh*t being talked about right now and I can’t wait to put him to sleep on the night.”
This is a different Dubois now
This is a very different Dubois now to the one who faced Usyk in Wroclaw in 2023, then his reputation and even his heart were in question following that loss and a previous one to Joe Joyce in 2020.
Since then though Daniel has been quite sensational, winning an absolute war with Jarrell Miller, busting up Filip Hrgovic and then absolutely demolishing Anthony Joshua last September. He is the IBF heavyweight king on merit now, and is exuding confidence and bad intentions.
“I think I am on fire now, I’m on fire and just pent up and ready to go. It is going to be a bloodbath and I will put all the nonsense to rest. I will show I am a man of the future.
“I know that in the ring on the night he will be doing a funny dance when I hit him.”
What’s at stake in Usyk vs Dubois 2?
This Wembley blockbuster is expected to draw another crowd in excess of 90,000 to the iconic London venue in July, literally everything that matters in the heavyweight division is on the line as the two current champions lock horns.
Usyk is the WBC, WBA, WBO, Ring magazine and lineal ruler, while Dubois currently holds the IBF belt.
The winner will become the sport’s second undisputed heavyweight champion in just over a year, after Usyk outpointed Tyson Fury in their epic first meeting in Riyadh last May.
Before that there had been that long 25-year gap since Lennox Lewis won it all by outpointing Evander Holyfield in their rematch in Las Vegas in November 1999.
For the peerless Usyk, this is the opportunity to be an undisputed world champion for a third time. He had ruled at cruiserweight before moving up to heavy to do the same again.
