Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois are set to meet again on July 19 at Wembley Stadium in a fight that will finally crown the undisputed heavyweight champion.
This bout marks the climax of a rivalry that began in August 2023 in Poland, where Usyk stopped Dubois in the ninth round to retain his unified heavyweight titles, the WBA (Super), WBO, and WBC belts. This time, however, Dubois will be entering the fight with a belt of his own.
The first meeting was marked with controversy. Dubois landed a powerful body shot in the fifth round that dropped Usyk, but the referee ruled it a low blow, granting Usyk extra recovery time. Usyk then rallied to force Dubois to take a knee twice more before the stoppage.
Since that first fight, both men have taken different paths. Usyk, 38, made history by defeating Tyson Fury in May 2024 to become the first heavyweight to hold all four major belts simultaneously. He then vacated the IBF title, which Dubois claimed. Dubois, also, has been on an impressive run, stopping top contenders Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic, and Anthony Joshua in a span of nine months.
The 27-year-old is eager for redemption on home turf. “This is the fight I wanted and demanded and now I get my chance for revenge against Oleksandr Usyk,” he said. “I should have won the first fight and was denied by the judgment of the referee, so I will make no mistake this time around in front of my people at the national stadium in my home city. I am a superior and more dangerous fighter now, and Usyk will find this out for himself on July 19”.
Usyk, meanwhile, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to fight again for the undisputed championship: “Thank you, Daniel, for taking care of my IBF belt – now I want it back.”
No British boxer has held the undisputed heavyweight championship in the four-belt era, and the last British undisputed heavyweight champion was Lennox Lewis in 1999. For Dubois, it is a chance to rewrite history and overcome the shadow of his previous defeat. For Usyk, it is an opportunity to reaffirm his status as the undisputed king of the heavyweight division.
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