Today in Poland, WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk and WBA mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois came face-to-face for the first time at the official press conference.
Along with the fact that the two men looked pretty evenly matched from a physical standpoint – the champ and the challenger looking almost evenly matched in terms of weight, this when some fans felt Dubois would look so much bigger than Usyk – came another surprise with the announced ticket prices.
Alex Krassyuk said at the head table how the aim was to make the fight “affordable to everyone ” And, with ticket prices starting at a lowly 11 euros ($12 or £9), it’s clear the August 26th fight will cost a fight fan a whole lot less cash than they are used to forking out for the privilege of being live and in person on fight night. As has been pointed out, with the fight going out on PPV in the UK (price expected to be somewhere around £25), a boxing fan will actually pay LESS for an actual ticket than for the TV coverage.
In this time of greed and obsession with money, with so many people struggling with the cost of living crisis, it is indeed refreshing and uplifting that the powers that be behind this heavyweight title fight have made a real and genuine effort to make it possible for the average Joe to be able attend the fight. Good on Krassyuk and Co.
With plenty of fans up in arms over the ticket prices for the Anthony Joshua-Dillian Whyte II fight (VIP price £800 ringside, £40 for a cheap ticket), it’s great that the same level of, well, greed has not been shown with the bigger, far more meaningful fight. That said, it’s likely both upcoming heavyweight scraps will produce a sold-out arena on the night.
As far as the upcoming challenge he faces next month, Dubois, 19-1(18) said at today’s presser that he is going to cause the upset sensation by knocking Usyk out. “I’m going to show the world how good Daniel Dubois really is,” he said
Usyk, 20-0(13) and the older man by 11 years, said he is happy to be fighting in Poland, where he won his first world title seven years ago. Usyk also thanked the Polish people for “helping Ukraine sincerely.”
Rest assured, Usyk will be in no complacent mood. He will want to win this fight at all costs.
