By Jim Calfa: Daniel Dubois weighed in at the lowest he’s been in six years today, coming in at a trim 233.2 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in for his title opportunity against IBF, WBA & WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KO) this Saturday night on August 26th at the Tarczyński Arena Wrocław in Wroclaw, Poland.
Usyk weighed in at 220.9 pounds, which is similar to what he came in at for his last two contests against Anthony Joshua. As the saying goes, ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.’
This is a good weight for the 36-year-old Usyk, as he had enough speed & power to make Joshua respect him while at the same time still having his speed and mobility.
Dubois could regret trimming down
The 25-year-old Dubois is taking a big chance coming in so light for his fight with Usyk, as he’s accustomed to fighting in the mid-240s, and reducing weight could work against him in this bout. Size is the one thing that Dubois has on his side, and it seems like a wrong-headed idea for him to come in lighter.
The latest time Dubois came in this light was for his fight against Mauricio Barragan in 2017. Dubois weighed in at 232 lbs for the fight, but he was only 19 years old.
Dubois is banking on using his slimmed-down physique to try and box Usyk, which seems like an insane idea. It’s unclear whether this idea was cooked up by his new trainer, Don Charles, or if he came up with this on his own.
Either way, it seems foolish for Dubois to have done, but it’s too late now. He’s going to have to live with his decision.
The Usyk vs. Dubois event will be shown live this Saturday, August 26th, at 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT on ESPN+.
Crowd on Usyk’s side
“People say we have got nothing to lose. Yes, we have. We have the title to lose and a title we want to get. We have to win to get our hands on those titles,” said trainer Don Charles to TNT Sports Boxing about his fighter Daniel Dubois fighting Oleksandr Usyk in front of what is expected to be a massive crowd of 40,000 pro-Usyk fans this Saturday night in Poland.
“It’s a great, great opportunity that we find ourselves in,” Charrle continued about Dubois. “Daniel is currently the WBA regular champ, which puts us in a great position.
“We recognize what a great opportunity it is to take, and we have grown an extra pair of arms to seize the opportunity. One thing is for sure: the crowd doesn’t get into the ring. So all through camp, that’s part of the mental exercise that we’ve been doing.
“There’s a lot going for us. Usyk has a lot going for him; yes, he has with the experience he has and the masterful boxer that he is, but I really have a feeling. Not just a feeling. We’ve done the training to back up the feeling.
Dubois’ trainer confident of victory
“Listen, we’ll take that. It’s still a chance, isn’t it?” Charles said the only method for victory for the 25-year-old Dubois is by knocking out Usyk on Saturday night.
“We’ve added to that, we’re aware of that, that Daniel is a puncher, but we’re not going to rely on Daniel being a puncher. We’ve equipped him with other things that would aid that punching power.
“You can’t just go there and land that shot. It would be nice, but there is a procedure to create that opportunity to land that big shot. We’re prepared for any eventuality, and we will win this fight.
“I understand the general consensus [that Usyk will win]. If we listen to people for people’s opinions, we wouldn’t be where we are today. If you listen to people, negative people, who have never achieved anything, yet they feel like they want to bring you down, the energy, we don’t listen to that.
“It’s well documented that since Usyk became a heavyweight in the heavyweight division, Dereck [Chisora] has posed more problems than any other. Yes, that’s well-documented, but you can take references from that, but our whole game plan is not based on that.
“We need to be more well-defined in our approach, not reckless, because you will be punished by Usyk,” said Charles.
