By Ian S Palmer
Former Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine will be defending his IBF, WBO, IBO and WBA (Super) Heavyweight Titles against Daniel Dubois of London, England in Wroclaw, Poland this Saturday, August 26th. The 12-round bout can be seen live in America on ESPN+ while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on TNT Sports Box Office. Usyk took the titles from Anthony Joshua in September 2021 via a unanimous decision and then beat him by split decision in their rematch last August. Dubois last saw action in December when he was dropped three times in the first round but got up to stop Kevin Lerena in the third to defend his WBA ‘regular’ Heavyweight Title.
The 36-year-old Usyk is a 6-foot-3-inch southpaw with a reach of 78 inches who turned pro back in 2013 and has boxed 168 rounds since. He unified the cruiserweight titles in July, 2018 in the final of the World Boxing Super Series when he beat Murat Gassiev by unanimous decision. He became the first man ever to hold the WBO, IBF, WBA and WBC Cruiserweight Belts at the same time. He was the WBO and WBC champ when he beat Gassiev who was then the IBF and WBA champ.
Usyk, who owns a perfect record of 20-0 with 13 Kos, had also won the WBO Title by beating Krzysztof Glowacki by unanimous decision in September, 2016. He defended it against Thabiso Mchunu with a ninth-round stoppage three months later and against Michael Hunter in April, 2017. He then stopped Marco Huck in 10 rounds before taking the WBC title from Mairis Briedis by majority decision in January, 2018. Since then of course, he’s laid claim to most of the heavyweight belts with his wins over Joshua.
Usyk has better-than-average power as his current knockout ratio stands at 65 per cent, but he’s been taken the distance in seven of his past 11 outings with his last stoppage victory coming in 2019 when he halted Chazz Witherspoon in the seventh round of his heavyweight debut. The only men to last the distance with him have been Joshua (twice), Dereck Chisora, Gassiev, Hunter, Glowacki and Briedis. Usyk enjoyed an excellent amateur career as he competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China and then won the gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 2012 Games in London. He also won bronze and gold at World Amateur Championship tournaments in 2009 and 2011 respectively.
The 25-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 Joe Cusumano in one round and then beating Trevor Bryan for the WBA Regular Title by stopping him in the fourth round in June, 2022. Dubois feels he’s in the same class as fellow Brits Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Joe Joyce, but he hasn’t taken on any upper-class opponents other than Joyce and he fell short when he did.
The comparisons with those elite heavyweights are somewhat understandable at least physically as Dubois stands 6-feet-5-inches tall with a 78-inch reach and has a mark of 19-1. He’s also stopped 18 of his 20 opponents for a highly-impressive current knockout ratio of 94.7 per cent. Like Usyk, Dubois 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 rather cautiously since making his pro debut in April, 2017 but has been pretty active with 20 fights under his belt but has just 63 rounds of pro experience due to his quick knockouts. His most recognizable opponents have included Bryan, Joyce, Dignu, Nathan Gorman, Kevin Johnson and Razvan Cojanu. The only two men who haven’t been stopped by Dubois have been Joyce and Johnson.
He was outclassed by Joyce but oddly enough was ahead on two of the judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage. 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 the most mobile heavyweight in the ring. He has mediocre to decent hand speed and his chin looked a little shaky in his last fight when he was dropped three times in the first stanza by Lerena.
Prediction…
Usyk is 11 years older than Dubois and gives up two inches in height. He can’t match Dubois for power either but is by far the superior boxer and possesses a pretty solid chin. Usyk has an awkward but very effective style and combines fine footwork with an elite ring IQ. In the past, Usyk hasn’t always lived up to his reputation as a premier boxer as he’s had a few mediocre fights. He should be well prepared here though and realizes Dubois’ greatest chance lies in nailing Usyk on the chin with one of his power shots. Usyk faced a similar situation against the hard-hitting Joshua though and prevailed due to his skills and movement. I’m expecting Usyk to prevail here and a second-half stoppage is a possibility.
