By: Sean Crose
The first fight was nothing if not interesting. Oleksandr Usyk, the esteemed heavyweight multi-titlist, was dropped by what some described as a body blow and what others described as a low blow. The referee decided it was a low blow, then perhaps seemed like he wanted to give Usyk all the time necessary to completely recover from the shot. Suffice to say, Usyk went on to win that fight by stoppage in the ninth round. Yet while Usyk remained undefeated, he also left the ring with some questions marks that evening. And even though he’s bested Tyson Fury twice in a row since then, the man who put Usyk on the mat, whether legally or illegally, has longed for another crack Usyk.
And so it was no surprise when word came out that Daniel Dubois would indeed be meeting Usyk for a second time this summer. Call it unfinished business. To make things even more interesting ,the summer rematch will be for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. Dubois holds the IBF heavyweight title while the WBA, WBC and WBO titles are all in Usyk’s possession. The truth is that Usyk will be the favorite walking in t to this one. Aside from besting Fury twice, he also defeated Anthony Joshua on two occasions.
Add in the facts that Usyk has already been undisputed heavyweight champion once and was undisputed cruiserweight champion before that and its easy to see why its hard to bet against the man. Still, Dubois is no joke. Aside from the battle with Usyk, the man was able to knock out Joshua in the fifth round of their high profile bout last September. What’s more, Jarrell Miller and Flip Hrgovic were stopped by Dubois within the distance before that. Make no mistake about it, Dubois has earned his right to a rematch.
Usyk-Dubois 2 will go down July 19th at Wembley Stadium. While this means Dubois will be fighting in his homeland, it’s worth noting that Usyk has never had trouble fighting on British soil before. Just ask Joshua, Derek Chisora or Tony Bellew. Still, there’s no doubt Dubois will be well motivated when he slips in the ring to make history against Usyk this summer. It’s an interesting matchup if not a spectacular one, a fight worthy of considerable hype. When the undisputed heavyweight championship is at stake, after all, it’s always worth it to pay attention.
