By Geoffrey Ciani: It’s finally happening. There will actually be at least one heavyweight championship fight in 2023, even if it is not the big fight fans were hoping for.
Coming up tonight from Wroclaw, Poland, heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk will put his unified IBF/WBO/WBA heavyweight championship crown on the line against challenger Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois live on ESPN+
Usyk is the former undisputed world cruiserweight champion, marking him as only the second undisputed cruiserweight champion during the division’s relatively brief history, and the only one during the modern 4 belt era. After conquering the cruiserweight division, Usyk moved up to heavyweight in 2019, and two years later in just his third fight as a heavyweight, Usyk defeated Anthony Joshua by 12 round unanimous decision to win the unified heavyweight championship. Usyk made one title defense, a rematch against Joshua last August, this time it was officially (and amazingly) by split decision. Usyk clearly won the fight, so the split decision verdict is a bit baffling.
Dubois himself is largely unproven. His big claim to fame is beating Trevor Bryan to win the secondary WBA belt. Beyond that, it is difficult to understand how he became a mandatory challenger to begin with. Aside from beating Bryan, he is best known for having had some very good rounds against Joe Joyce. In the end the durable Joyce inflicted a lot of damage which led to a stoppage win in round 10, where Dubois suffered nerve damage and a broken orbital bone. After losing that fight, somehow Dubois got to fight for the WBA interim title in his very next fight, which ultimately led to his chance against Bryan. In his last fight back in December, things almost ended in disaster for Dubois, who was dropped three times in the opening round. It was subsequently revealed that Dubois had suffered a tear to his ACL. To his credit, Dubois rallied back to stop Lerena in round 3.
So who will win the upcoming heavyweight championship showdown between unified IBF/WBO/WBA heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and his challenger Daniel Dubois?
This edition of Rummy’s Corner will attempt to answer that very question, while also providing a quick preview for the upcoming heavyweight championship contest in Poland. Please watch and enjoy the video for one man’s opinion. This is Rummy’s Corner (produced and narrated by Geoffrey Ciani).