Warren willing to make Usyk vs. Dubois for WBO title if Joshua vacates

By Boxing News - 09/01/2020 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Promoter Frank Warrens says he’ll have no problem with letting Daniel Dubois face top-rated Oleksandr Usyk for the WBO heavyweight title if Anthony Joshua chooses to vacate it. Dubois is ranked #3 with the WBO. Former WBO champion Joseph Parker (27-2, 21 KOs) is rated #2 ahead of Dubois, and he would likely accept a fight with Usyk if Joshua vacates the title.

The manager for Usyk, Alex Krassyuk of K2 Promotions, told Sky Sports on Tuesday that they won’t step aside to let IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs) face WBC champ, Tyson Fury.

Usyk wants his mandated title shot for the WBO belt, be it against AJ or one of the top contenders if he vacates it.

Dubois hasn’t fought anyone good

The 22-year-old Dubois (15-0, 14 KOs) doesn’t have a lot of experience as a professional, and it would be a risky situation for him to take on former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) for the vacant WBO title if Joshua chooses to vacate it.

Right now, it doesn’t look like Joshua will give up his WBO title, as his goal is to unify the heavyweight division.

Image: Warren willing to make Usyk vs. Dubois for WBO title if Joshua vacates

He’s been saying that for the last four years, and he’s not likely to give up on that dream to avoid the much smaller and weaker Usyk. Joshua will likely be a collosol favorite against the 33-year-old Usyk when or if that contest does take place soon.

“Yep, we’d go with that fight,” said Warren to IFL TV when asked if he’d be interested in letting Dubois fight Oleksandr Usyk for the vacant WBO title if Joshua vacates the belt.

“Obviously, Daniel is a much bigger than Usyk, but Usyk has tremendous experience. He’s a very capable of fighter. He’s had a fight at heavyweight, as we know.

“And he’s a former cruiserweight. But I think Daniel, with his youth and his power, it won’t be an easy fight, I fancy him to beat [Usyk] him,” Warren said.

Is Usyk too experienced for Dubois?

Dubois still fights ahead of him next month against Joy Joyce on October 24 that he needs to win before he can be potentially considered for a scrap against Usyk. Daniel and the unbeaten Joyce (11-0, 10 KOs) will be squaring off on BT Sport.

Dubois will be favored against the 2016 Olympic silver medalist Joyce, but anything is possible. We haven’t see Dubois fight anyone with a shred of talent since he turned professional in 2017.

Joyce, 6’6″, has the size, chin, and the experience to potentially beat Dubois. Both fighters very slow of hand and foot, and that makes it kind of interesting. Dubois hits more rigid and has the superior jab than Joyce, though.

Dubois is coming off of a 2nd round knockout win over Ricardo Snijders on August 29 at the BT Studio in Stratford. Snijders were brought in as sub to replace Daniel’s previously scheduled opponent Eric Pfeifer.

Usyk might have a little too much seasoning as a fighter for Dubois to deal with right now. The ability of Usyk to move around the ring, change angles of his attacks would give the slow-footed Dubois a lot of headaches.

Image: Warren willing to make Usyk vs. Dubois for WBO title if Joshua vacates

Usyk is like the heavyweight division’s version of Vasiliy Lomachenko, and he’ll be a handful for even the experienced fighters in the weight class to deal with. Ideally, Dubois needs to face some agile heavyweights before he takes on someone as crafty as Usyk, but he may not have a choice in the matter.

Dubois would face Usyk for WBO title

If Joshua gives up his WBO title, then Dubois would look bad if he passed up the chance to fight for the vacant belt. He probably wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to battle for the vacant WBO belt. As such, Dubois would be put in a sink or swim spot where he would need to try his best, and potentially fail.

What Dubois has going for him in that situation is his youth. He’s only 22, so even if he gets beaten by Usyk, he would still be young enough to bounce back in time and learn from the defeat.

In contrast, it would be harder for an older heavyweight to absorb a loss to Usyk because they wouldn’t have the time to rebuild as he does.

“If it’s something we have to do, then we’ll do it,” Warren continued about Dubois possibly facing Usyk if Joshua vacates. “It’s a great opportunity.

“What’s the worse thing that could happen? For us, he would get beat. He just turned 23. So it ain’t the end of the world. I don’t even look at it like that. I fancy him [Dubois] to come through,” said Warren.

The worst that could happen for Dubois is that Usyk could school him and make him look like slow, sluggish, and not good enough to compete at the highest levels in the division.

That’s why it’s a good idea that Warren starts matching Dubois against faster heavyweights with hand speed and footwork because he’s going to need that for him to deal with guys like Usyk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBrG_GOrccs

Dubois willing to face Joshua tomorrow

The Ukrainian fighter Usyk is this era’s version of Jimmy Young, a boxer known for being crafty.

Warren said he’d be willing to let Dubois face Joshua right now for the WBO title if it were offered.

“They’ve sparred before, and Daniel held his own. I’ve said before, I’d take that fight tomorrow,” said Warren to skysports.com.

This December, Joshua will be defending next against his IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev. If Joshua wins that fight, then he could be facing his WBO mandatory Usyk in early 2021 unless he chooses to vacate the belt.

“It’s nice to see a young prospect come with so much hype behind him,” said David Haye to IFL TV about Dubois. “He has genuine hype. His fight with Gorman. I have all his fights.

“The one with Gorman is the one that I realized that he’s the real deal, as he was another undefeated fighter, which I felt had a perfect chance. I’ve seen Gorman up close and personal, and I knew he was a serious contender.

“The way that he went about his business at the O2 Arena showed me that he’s not just a prospect, but someone that can go the whole way,” said Haye about Dubois.

It’s too bad Dubois won’t get a chance to fight Joshua soon, as that would be an exciting match-up from start to finish. The way things are looking right now, Dubois and Joshua will need to both keep winning until 2022 for them to have a shot at meeting up.

Joshua has Pulev, Oleksandr Usyk, and two fights against Tyon Fury that he must win before he and Dubois can potentially face in 2022.

Image: Warren willing to make Usyk vs. Dubois for WBO title if Joshua vacates

The Juggernaut will test Daniel’s stamina

The thought of him going in there with someone more conditioned and seasoned like Joe Joyce, someone with a crazy engine that can keep going nonstop,” said Haye.

“I’ve seen that first hand as well. It’s like a real mouth-watering proposition to have two guys. This is a 50-50 fight. It depends on what you like. Dubois is the favorite with the bookmakers, but Joyce has fought the better opposition.

“His win against [former WBC heavyweight champion Bermane] Stiverne, [Bryant] Jennings, real live names, can’t be overlooked. So it’s going to be a very, very exciting fight. We’re looking at a real big British super-fight if that makes sense,” said Haye of the Dubois vs. Joyce match.

“It’s like two British fighters, who aren’t champions yet, but it’s as big as it can be. It’s a big British non-title fight. One thing you can say is Joyce has one of the most significant engines out there.

“He’s got a great chin. I’ve seen him walk through so many shots, but Dubois has that great equalizer. He has that one-punch knockout power. He doesn’t bludgeon people against the ropes.

It’ll be interesting to see how well Dubois can handle the fast pace that ‘The Juggernaut’ Joyce sets against him, as he looked tired in the past when pressed.

Journeyman Kevin Johnson gave Dubois issues just by dragging him past the fifth round; Dubois looked flustered and haggard after Johnson didn’t cave in early.

Image: Warren willing to make Usyk vs. Dubois for WBO title if Joshua vacates

Dubois vs. Joyce = explosive

“He takes them out with one shot,” Haye continued about Dubois. “When you put those ingredients in together, you’re in for a spectacular night of boxing. Neither fighter likes to take a step backward.

“Both of them have got the true ability in their belief in their punch power and endurance. And both of them [Joyce and Dubois] both believe in their chins and their conditioning.

“And you’ve got the teams. It’s not just the fighters themselves. It’s their teams, the coaches, and the staff. They both genuinely believe they’re going to win this fight, and it’s very rare to get a fight like that.

“It’s nice to see the final piece of the jigsaw before we get it in October,” said Haye.

Dubois-Joyce will tell us a lot about each of these two fighters, as they both are lack in the experience department. The winner of the fight will move on to world honors potentially.

In Joyce’s case, it’s going to be a lot harder for him to come back from a defeat. He’s turning 35-years-old this month, and he’s not someone that has a lot of time to come back from a defeat. Moreover, Joyce’s hand speed appears to be getting slower, and that’s bad news because he’s already glacially slow.

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Dubois has excellent power, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that he has the one-punch type of hitting strength, as Haye says.

Daniel needs to put his shots together for him to score a knockout, and he needs his opponents to be stationary for him to land. Dubois does well when he’s got someone that fights off the ropes, as we saw with Ricardo Snijders.