Today at the London presser ahead of the Oleksandr Usyk-Daniel Dubois fight set for Poland on August 26th, Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren recalled some big wins scored by British fighters who were either underdogs or were going into what was looked at as a seriously tough test.
Warren, who said today that he likes to think he gets it right “most of the time,” spoke about how he fully believes Dubois will defeat Usyk next month – the way he “believed it” prior to Danny Williams upsetting Mike Tyson when he fought him in 2004. Warren said he “believes it” the way he did when Naseem Hamed beat Kevin Kelley in his US debut in 1997, and the promoter said he “believes it” the way Joe Calzaghe “did the business” when he fought Jeff Lacy back in 2006.
Warren believes this is Dubois’ time and that this is the first time Usyk, great as he is (Warren said today that Usyk “probably ranks as the greatest cruiserweight of this century”), is fighting a young, fresh heavyweight who is not on the way down or is past his best.
“I believe this time I’ll be proved right. This guy on my left (Dubois) will win this fight,” Warren said. “I genuinely think this will be Daniel’s moment. We had an opportunity to pull him out of the fight and let him [Usyk] fight someone else, but we didn’t want to do that – he [Dubois] definitely didn’t want to do that. I’m a big believer that there’s moments in time in boxing. The best punches are all about timing. The best matchmaking is all about timing.
“I look at this fight in a different way to others……Usyk’s come up and he’s had fights at heavyweight. The Derek Chisora fight, in my opinion, there was nothing in that fight for quite a while. I watched him fight AJ, the first fight, AJ didn’t look like he wanted to be there, the second fight he did better, but the best man won. But AJ is not the fighter he was. He’s (Usyk) fighting now a young, good, up-and-coming, strong heavyweight. This is a test for him (Usyk). This is a guy who is not on the way down, not a guy who is a gatekeeper like Derek Chisora, who always fights well enough to come second. This is a real fight. This is a guy fighting a young, hungry fighter. This will be a big test for Mr. Usyk.”
Warren added how Dubois is faster than people think, with him also pointing out how Dubois can punch and can jab. It’s going to be a “great fight for as long as it lasts,” Warren predicts. Maybe.
The experts disagree, as do the betting odds (Dubois is listed as an 8/1 dog in some places). Warren makes a passionate case for his fighter (the promoter doing more talking than the fighter, make of that what you will), but it’s tough to go against Usyk in this one.