Yet more talk from IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois, this as he inches ever closer to his huge four-belt unification fight with Oleksandr Usyk. Dubois, who aims to both avenge his 2023 stoppage loss to Usyk and become the first British fighter to hold all four belts at heavyweight, has now said that he feels 38 year old Usyk is “a little bit worn,” that the tough fights, with Tyson Fury in particular, have taken plenty out of the Ukrainian southpaw.
And Dubois, who is a decade the younger man, said to Queensbury Promotions that he will “make Usyk old on the night.”
A Young Lion’s Mission
The fight will of course take place at Wembley Stadium (and is expected to be fully sold out) on July 19. And Dubois says it will be his night.
“I think he is a little bit worn,” Dubois said of the undefeated Usyk. “Those two fights with Tyson Fury, the fights with me and everyone else have all taken a little bit out of him. I feel he’s ready to be taken off that pedestal. He’s a proud man and everything but there comes a time, everyone gets their time. I know what I’ve got to do and that’s make him old on the night. You can turn a guy old in one night in a fight, and that’s what I’ve got to do.”
But how will Dubois accomplish this, how will he make Usyk turn old right before our eyes? Dubois, 22-2(21) says he’ll do it by throwing “bombs,” by taking the heat right to Usyk.
Bombs Away: Dubois’ Knockout Plan
“I’ll do it properly this time,” Dubois stated. “No fiddling about, no pitter patter, it’s just bombs away. I think we are levelling up in the gym and everyone is pushing me harder than ever. It will all come together on the night.”
Is this the fight where youth will be served, where Usyk, as special as he is, does slow down enough to be taken, even taken out? Or has Usyk, a man who has lived the life during the entire duration of his fighting career, got another one, maybe two, great, indeed dazzling performances left in him?
There are plenty of questions that can be asked going into Usyk-Dubois II, and we are not too far from seeing them get answered.
