Daniel Dubois Plans To Bully Oleksandr Usyk to Victory!
Up next for WBA Regular heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs) is, by far, the biggest test of his career. On August 26, he faces unified champion Oleksander Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) at Wroclaw Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland. The mindset of Dubois for this upcoming challenge is “no-holds-barred”. He’s ready to do whatever it takes to win.
This fight is the byproduct of a failed attempt to make a unification contest between Usyk and WBC champion Tyson Fury. Team Usyk feels that Fury was making endless demands during negotiations. Once it became clear that their fight was not going to happen, the WBA ordered a match between Usyk and Dubois in April 2023.
UNDERSTANDING THE TASK AT HAND
Dubois trained for this upcoming fight in the mountains of Spain and feels he’s in the best shape of his life. While speaking to the British media outlet Seconds Out, the 25-year-old said he worked a lot on his speed, head movement, footwork, and being more efficient with his punches.
He will need all that and more if he is going to overcome Usyk, currently ranked third in the 3kingboxing.com Top Ten Fighters rankings. Several observers feel that the unified champion is the best fighter in the division. In assessing his upcoming foe, Dubois said he must be the aggressor and take the fight to him.
“Usyk, he’s a cruiserweight. He’s smaller than me. It’s no secret that he moves around the ring a lot. He’s got good feet. So, we need to cut the ring off. Cut him down, and shut the space down . . . How I feel right now, it’s covered, I’m ready.”
READY TO GO TO THE EXTREMES
Despite working on his athleticism and technique, Dubois admitted he’s unlikely to outbox Usyk. He acknowledged a knockout is his best chance of victory.
Given that understanding, the big man from Great Britain says if it means he has to do so by making things ugly in the ring, so be it. The sole mission is to get the job done on fight night.
“It’s no secret. Go in there and make it a rough fight, go in there and bully him. That’s what I’m going in there to do . . . Win by any means necessary, that’s my mentality.”
