George Groves has tipped Oleksandr Usyk to beat Daniel Dubois again in their long-awaited rematch on Saturday - but warned that the Briton could pull off an upset.
The pair’s first meeting in 2023 proved controversial when Dubois floored Usyk in the fifth round with what the referee deemed to be a low blow. After taking almost four minutes to recover, the Ukrainian went on to win by stoppage in the ninth following two knockdowns.
Debate has raged since as to whether Dubois’ punch was low. The Briton maintains his innocence and has made no secret of the fact that he is holding a grudge.
This weekend he has the opportunity to get his own back in front of a sold-out Wembley Stadium, but Groves feels the odds are stacked against him.
"He was beaten, Dubois, so there will be fear there,” Groves tells Standard Sport. “There’ll be fear of knowing what potentially can go wrong.
“Whether someone is better than you or not, if they beat you fair and square then you failed at some point, and failing is frightening.
“Rematches are different. Usyk has done rematches before, he’s very comfortable with them.
“For Dubois, he could be supremely confident, he could be nervous for his first.”
Groves, a former super-middleweight world champion, is uniquely qualified to comment on Dubois’ situation, having fought a similarly acrimonious rematch against Carl Froch at Wembley in 2014.
"I was robbed,” says Groves of his first fight with Froch in Manchester in 2013. “I was winning, I should have won. The referee robbed me.
“That meant there was a lot of pressure [ahead of the rematch], but it was different from what Daniel Dubois will be feeling because there has been a gap between the fights.
“Dubois has gone away, rebuilt, he’s boxing well, and now he’s in a different shape, different frame of mind going into the rematch.”
That low blow, though, will only intensify the scrutiny on Dubois come fight night.
“It was a low blow,” says Groves. “You can freeze-frame it, he hit him on the shorts. The spotlight will be on it for the rematch, there’ll be a lot of talk about legal shots."
Facing the undefeated Usyk, Dubois is aiming to write his name into boxing history as only the second British undisputed heavyweight champion.
After Dubois lost the first fight, Groves says: “The pressure is off in that, technically, Usyk is better than him.
“If you lose, what have you got to lose? He was going to beat you anyway. That works in his favour, and means more pressure for Usyk, who has beaten him once and has to do it again.
“Usyk is a bag of tricks, he can always bring something different to the ring. You can never get too settled or comfortable with him, he’ll always give you something new to worry about.”
Dubois will be in a stronger frame of mind this time around... he believes in himself a lot more
Dubois will be boosted, though, by his results over the last couple of years. He comes into this fight as the IBF heavyweight champion after knocking out Anthony Joshua in September and is in the form of his career.
“Dubois will be in a stronger frame of mind this time around,” Groves says. “I think he just believes in himself a lot more.
“It was a meteoric victory against Joshua last time out, he was the underdog, the B-side of the event. He will never experience another thrill like that night, beating the poster boy of British boxing.”
George Groves was speaking at a Midnite event, as the former world champion previewed this weekend’s heavyweight unification fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois.
