By Gary Todd: Oleksandr Usyk v Daniel Dubois – IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO Championship of the World
With only days away until Daniel Dubois ( 19-0 -1 loss by TKO) fights one of the best fighters in the world for the heavyweight championship of the world, but will he be prepared mentally and physically to face the talented and experienced Oleksandr Usyk. ( 20-0 13 Kos)
Dubois is a big underdog, stepping up in class, and fighting in a foreign land, at the 45,000 seat‘ Tarczynski’ Arena, which will be packed with Usyk’s countrymen that have been displaced to Poland since the war and invasion of Ukraine.
All the talk is that the size and power of the man they call ‘ Dynamite’ could be a deciding factor in the fight with Dubois’s coach saying ‘ Dubois punching power is unmeasurable’.
At 6’5, and 245lbs, there is no doubt, Dubois will have the advantage in weight, and he is a heavyweight so one clean punch which in Dubois’s case is his overhand right hand, puts the Londoner in the ‘ punchers chance’ category against Usyk.
Usyk will be coming into the ring around 225lbs and he won’t be hanging around, waiting for Dubois to tee off from his orthodox stance.
Dubois is vulnerable in terms of stamina, and movement and he has relied so much on knocking his opponents out, that he noticeably fades after six rounds.
Usyk will target Dubois left eye, using his solid right jab, finishing with the left hand. The same left eye that Joe Joyce fractured and damaged in November 2020, that forced Dubois to take a knee then retire in the centre of the ring.
The same knee that was spoken about , when Dubois was sent to the canvas , 3 times in the 1st round , in his last outing in December 2022 by the respectable but smaller boxer Kevin Lerena. Dubois survived and came back to stop the South African in the 3rd round.
Dubois’s team will be going into this fight with little pressure and also with a ‘ nothing to lose’ attitude as no one expects him to win , which makes for an interesting game plan of going in, guns blazing, hitting Usyk anywhere, hoping the right hand connects and hurts Usyk.
Experience, skill, boxing IQ, speed, movement and Usyk’s southpaw counterpunching will be the deciding factor in this fight.
TKO in 8th round – Usyk
Gary Todd has been involved in all aspects in the sport of boxing for over 30 years and he is an acclaimed international best selling author with his books on boxing. Check out his latest book , ‘Annie’s Boy’. Garytodd.org