By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBS ‘Regular’ Heavyweight Champion Trevor Bryan of New York City defends his title against British hopeful Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois of England this Saturday, June 11th. The 12-rounder from Miami, Florida can be seen live in the UK on BT Sport 1. Dubois last fought in August when he stopped Juiseppe Angelo Cusumano in 130 seconds while Bryan last boxed in January when he edged Jonathan Guidry by a split decision after dropping him in the 12th and final round
The undefeated Bryan is 34 years old and owns a perfect record of 22-0 with 15 Ko’s. He’s 6-feet-4-inches tall with a 79-inch reach which gives him a one-inch reach advantage over Dubois even though he’s an inch shorter. He made his pro debut back in 2011 and has 97 rounds of experience to his name since. Bryan’s got pretty heavy hands as his current knockout ratio sits at 68.2 per cent. He enjoyed a decent amateur career before turning pro, but nothing really spectacular.
Since entering the pro ranks, he’s beaten boxers such as BJ Flores, Bermane Stiverne, Elieser Castillo, Epifanio Mendoza, Deric Rossy and Galen Brown. His 2015 bout against Rossy was for the vacant NABF Junior Heavyweight Title and he took it by a 10-round unanimous decision. He then stopped Flores in four rounds in 2018 for the interim WBA Heavyweight Belt.
Bryan fought Stiverne in January, 2021 and halted the former world champion in the 11th round to take the vacant WBA Heavyweight Title. Bryan passed the test when stepping up in class against Stiverne but just eight of his 22 opponents up to now have entered the ring with winning records. He’s taking a step up in class again this weekend and is confident he can handle the task.
The 24-year-old Dubois stopped Ebenezer Tetteh in the second round in September, 2019 for the vacant Commonwealth and WBO International heavyweight Titles after stopping Nathan Gorman in the fifth round in July, 2019 for the vacant British Heavyweight Title. However, he lost all of those belts to Joe Joyce in November, 2020 when he took a knee in the 10th round and decided not to carry on due to taking Joyce’s jabs all night long and suffering eye damage.
He returned seven months later and stopped Bogdan Dinu in the second round before halting Cusumano in his last outing. Dubois feels he’s in the same heavyweight class as fellow Brits Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Joe Joyce and a legitimate contender for a world title. Those comparisons are somewhat understandable since he stands 6-feet-5-inches tall with a 78-inch reach and has a mark of 17-1. He’s also stopped 16 of his 18 opponents so far for a current knockout ratio of 88.9 per cent.
Like Joshua, Dubois also enjoyed a fine amateur career, reportedly losing just six of 75 bouts and winning gold medals at various tournaments. He didn’t fight in the Olympics though as he decided to turn pro instead. Dubois has been brought along cautiously since making his pro debut in April, 2017 other than stepping up in class against Joyce and getting beaten. He’s been pretty active as a pro but has just 56 rounds of experience under his belt due to his quick knockouts.
His opponents have included Joyce, Cusumano, Dignu, Ricardo Snijders, Kyotaro Fujimoto, Ebenezer Tetteh, Nathan Gorman, Tom Little, Kevin Johnson, Razvan Cojanu and Richard Lartey with Johnson and Joyce being the only two he didn’t stop. The fight with Joyce was a step up in class and even without the eye injury Dubois was visibly outclassed but oddly enough was ahead on two of the judges’ scorecards.
Dubois usually tips the scales between 230 and 240 lbs and his career has been based on power. He can cause damage with either hand but isn’t really the most mobile heavyweight in the ring. He has mediocre to decent hand speed and is determined to make a name for himself in the division. It’s still hard to say how good his chin is at this point since it hasn’t been tested with many power shots as Joyce was content to keep the jab in his face time after time.
Prediction…
Bryan is one of the least known boxing “champions” out there, but he’s beaten everybody he’s faced. Dubois will be a stiffer test however due to his power. This fight isn’t really that easy to predict since Dubois looked to be out of his league against Joe Joyce when he took a step up in class. Due to his age and power though, Dubois is expected to win this fight and I’d agree with that. However, it might be a lot closer than many experts expect. In fact, a loss or draw wouldn’t really be a shock either.
