Daniel Dubois was a long way from finished at the end of his world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk in Poland two years ago.
Dubois had been dropped twice and stopped when he narrowly failed to beat the count in round nine. It was not a happy night for Dubois and in the midnight aftermath, harsh questions were asked about his desire to fight.
Dubois, it turns out, did want to fight, and he went on an impressive three-fight streak, winning all by stoppage and arguably starting all three as the underdog. It salvaged his reputation in a sport where lines are crossed too often by people pumping an agenda. Dubois also won the world heavyweight title.
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On Saturday at Wembley Stadium, he fights Usyk again for all four of the world heavyweight titles; it is a rematch that looked like a fantasy at the end of that long, long night in the Polish ring.
Instead, there is bold talk of Dubois knocking out Usyk this time. There was, in their first fight, the controversial moment in round five when Usyk went down from a body shot – the problem was, according to the referee and, it would appear, from replays, as the uppercut landed, the initial contact was with an illegal part of the body. It was on the beltline, but in boxing that line is a floating feast of interpretation and error. The debate on the punch – legal, illegal, intentional, accidental – rages on even now and will never be solved.
Usyk sat in a heap, pulling faces and rolling his eyes; there was a gap of exactly three minutes and 48 seconds between the punch landing and the resumption of the fight. The referee allowed Usyk time to recover from the punch, which is in the rules if a boxer has been hit low. There was also two minutes and 31 seconds left in the round; Dubois failed to seize the moment once the action restarted and, having been a second, a solitary punch and an inch or less from victory, he let the chance slip. Usyk survived the round, won the next and finished it in the ninth. Dubois looked broken as he left the ring.
There followed some serious chats and then, in late December of 2023, Dubois stopped Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller with just eight seconds left in the 10th and last round. The win was essential, but more importantly, Dubois had survived some painful and awkward moments in the gruelling fight and had to bite down on his gum shield to triumph.
Meanwhile, Usyk beat Tyson Fury twice in 2024 to establish himself as No 1 heavyweight on the planet. He was also a man in search of a challenge; he had beaten Anthony Joshua and Fury twice and stopped Dubois. There was nobody left; he looked untouchable.
However, Dubois stopped previously unbeaten Filip Hrgovic and then dropped and dramatically knocked out Joshua at Wembley Stadium last September. Usyk suddenly has a realistic challenger, a new threat, because the Dubois from the Joshua fight is barely recognisable as the man who folded against Usyk. The ring redemption of Dubois has made him a dangerous and fearless man. It is a narrative that fits; Miller, Hrgovic and Joshua all stopped in just 10 months is impressive.
Usyk is now 38, a veteran of close to 25 years learning his trade in the world’s boxing gyms. He is unbeaten in 23 fights as a professional and there are no signs of decline. He has picked his fights with great care and attention; in the last six years, he has only fought more than once, the one time being last year when he met Fury. That is essential self-preservation for a big man after a life of taking punches and pushing his body. All fighters need recovery time, and for heavyweights, it is the difference between a long and a short career.
Dubois and his team are confident that this time he will be too strong, too motivated and that they can get to Usyk. There seems to be a sense that Usyk’s age will be a factor, and they might be right; all fighters run the risk of becoming old overnight in any fight close to the end of a career. The Dubois from the Joshua fight would certainly make it a difficult night for Usyk. However, lifting one template and trying to make it fit another fight is not how the ancient sport of boxing works.
Dubois has momentum and Usyk is obviously a lot older and slower – he is also smarter, trickier and appears to have endless ambition.
Last year, Dubois never celebrated when he knocked out Joshua. Instead, he said: “This is my story now, I want Usyk for redemption.” He meant it and that new ruthless attitude makes Saturday night a very special prospect. The thinking coming into this week was about Dubois, and if he had changed enough to beat Usyk. Perhaps, the real storyline is how much Usyk has left. We will find out on Saturday night.
Main event and undercard
- Oleksandr Usyk (WBC, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion) vs Daniel Dubois (IBF champion) [undisputed heavyweight titles]
- Lawrence Okolie vs Kevin Lerena (heavyweight)
- Daniel Lapin vs Lewis Edmondson (light-heavyweight)
- Andrii Novytskyi vs Vladyslav Sirenko (heavyweight)
- Lasha Guruli vs James Francis (super-lightweight)
- Aadam Hamed vs Ezequiel Gregores (super-lightweight)
Subject to change
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