For the second time, Oleksandr Usyk bids to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion. This time he travels to the UK to face the IBF champion Daniel Dubois who he has already beaten once. Will it be another great night for Usyk or can Dubois cause a major shock?
We’ve been in this situation once before of course. Usyk beat Tyson Fury to become undisputed champion but that didn’t last long, more about that later. Sports betting continues to be extremely popular and Usyk is 1.3 favourite to win this fight with Dubois available at 4.00 via TOP20Ranked.com
Whoever wins this title fight on Saturday 19 July is likely to be ordered to defend their belts against the top challenger. That list currently includes Dereck Chisora, Lawrence Okolie, Fabio Wardley and Moses Itauma. It seems beating other top contenders isn’t required to get to number one on the list anymore.
The problem is of course whoever wins at Wembley is likely to want to take on either Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury. Yes, Fury has retired but do you honestly believe he’ll never fight again?
The heavyweight division used to be dominated by American boxers but that’s not so these days. Usyk rules the roost but he seems to have turned the world title into an extension of the British heavyweight division.
This fight against Dubois is the seventh successive fight in which he’s faced a British opponent. Since 2018 he’s only faced one opponent who wasn’t from the UK. Looking at that list of top contenders, more fights against British boxers could well be on the cards.
It was in 2023 that these two boxers met for the first time. If we get a fraction of the controversy seen that night in Poland, we’re in for an unforgettable night at Wembley. Dubois knocked the champion down and he didn’t beat the ten count.
However, it was ruled that it was a low blow that put him on the canvas. Dubois felt robbed of a knockout win but Usyk was allowed to continue and stopped Dubois in the tenth round. It’s 2.1 that Usyk wins this fight inside the distance.
Since then, the champion has had two points wins over Tyson Fury. His opponent claims that he won both of those title fights but it looked as if Usyk deserved the verdicts. This return fight against Dubois will be Usyk’s first since beating Fury last December. A points verdict for Usyk is 3.00 so online sportsbooks do believe he can again stop Dubois.
His opponent has twice had to rebuild his career and has done a pretty good job of it. His unbeaten record was lost in 2020 when losing to Joe Joyce. Dubois suffered a fractured left eye socket and took a knee in the tenth round. Many felt that he gave up in that fight but it was a serious injury.
He had four inside the distance wins when making his return to the ring. That secured him his shot at Usyk but again he was beaten. All his recent wins have been impressive ones and he does deserve this return match against Usyk..
Dubois ended the unbeaten run of Jarred Miller and then did the same to Filip Hrgovic. The latter of those two wins made him the IBF interim heavyweight champion. When Usyk chose to fight Fury instead, Dubois became the IBF title holder and Usyk was no longer an undisputed champion.
Then came his biggest win of all. He defended his belt against former champion Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium. Dubois put in his best ever performance and knocked Joshua out in five rounds. Joshua was floored four times and Usyk never managed to do that in his two wins over him. You can get odds of 5.5 on him beating Usyk inside the distance.
Can he do that though? Usyk has boxed 69 rounds against Dubois, Joshua, Fury and Chisora and is yet to be knocked to the canvas. It’s 13.00 that Dubois wins this fight on points. That indicates that online sportsbooks feel the British boxer is going to struggle to go 12 rounds with Usyk and outpoint him.
Dubois does have age on his side. He’s only 27 and that’s 11 years younger than his opponent. At 38, there is always the chance that sooner or later the Ukrainian is having one fight too many. He’s not a boxer though who has taken a great deal of punishment in his career.
The British boxer has undoubtedly improved since the first bout. We all knew about his punching power but he has seemed more determined in his last three fights, especially against Hrgovic. Whatever the result of this fight, a Joshua rematch looks likely and Dubois is 1.57 to win that.
This promises to be a fascinating fight and unlike their first match, Dubois might not necessarily need an early knockout to secure victory. It’s hard to bet against the oh-so-reliable Usyk though.
