Unified three-belt heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) crushed IBF champ Daniel Dubois (22-3, 21 KOs) by a surprising fifth-round knockout for the undisputed championship in their rematch on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in London.
A frustrated-looking Dubois got reckless in the fifth round, overreaching with his power shots. Usyk took advantage of it by dropping him hard with a left hand. When Dubois got up, he looked hurt and was not going to be able to survive the round.
Moments later, Usyk dropped him a second time with a highlight reel left to the head. The referee, Michael Griffin, then counted out Dubois. The time of the stoppage was at 1:52 of the round.
The way the fight ended was a surprise, as most fans had expected Usyk to grind out a decision against the new and improved Dubois.
Undercard results
WBC Silver heavyweight champion Lawrence Okolie (22-1, 16 KOs) used his huge 6’5″ height and massive weight advantage to defeat Kevin Lerena (31-4, 15 KOs) by a 10-round unanimous decision in the chief support bout. The scores were 100-90, 99-91, and 100-90.
Okolie showed good power, but he wasn’t throwing enough shots to score a knockout of Lerena. Part of the problem is Okolie’s weight. He entered the fight weighing 262 lbs, with much of it being pure fat. He’s packed on 62 lbs by power-feeding since 2023, and it’s taken away his hand speed. and energy. It’s unbelievable that this dreadful fight was the co-feature on tonight’s card. The promoter of the event is nickel-and-diming it.
Light heavyweight Daniel Lapin (12-0, 4 KOs) fought his way to a narrow 10-round majority decision over Lewis Edmondson (11-1, 3 KOs) in a fight that could have easily gone the other way. The judges favored the cleaner work from Lapin, who used his amateur style to land a lot of point-scoring, taping shots. Lapin came on late to pull out the decision. The judges gave him a gift because Edmondson was the better fighter through most of the fight.
Scores were 95-95, 96-94, and 96-94.
Heavyweight Solomon Dacres (10-1, 3 KOs) made it look easy, schooling the painfully slow, lethargic Vladyslav Sirenko (22-1, 19 KOs), earning a wide 10-round unanimous decision. Dacres was on another level than the Ukrainian Sirenko, as he was popping him with shots in every round. Sirenko’s lack of defense made it too easy for Dacres to hit him at will. The only reason Sirenko made it the full distance is that Dacres has no power.
The scores were 99-91, 98-92, and 99-92.
