Oleksandr Usyk Stops Daniel Dubois At Wembley Stadium

Oleksandr Usyk Stops Daniel Dubois At Wembley Stadium

Oleksandr Usyk was largely expected to beat Daniel Dubois again, but not many predicted that he would do it in much more emphatic fashion the second time around. Off the back of three career-changing victories, Dubois came into his rematch with Usyk in the form of his life, but yet again, the British heavyweight found the Ukrainian wizard far too good for him. Usyk only needed five rounds to bludgeon Dubois to a one-sided inside-the-distance win, to once again crown himself the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Dubois was expected to provide far stiffer opposition than he did two years ago in Poland. But Usyk was even better this time. Dubois had no answer to the formidable fighter in front of him. He never stopped trying, but a big puncher needs to time to set his feet and a stationary target. Usyk was never still, always moving, always landing, Dubois just couldn’t get set.

The Usyk southpaw jab was the key. Three or four thudding jabs landed inside the first minute, and all the pre-fight Dubois confidence seemed to evaporate incredibly quickly. Now too wary of what was coming back at him, Dubois lacked the authority in his own work. Usyk breezed through the opening two rounds, and he visibly hurt Dubois at the end of the second round.

But Dubois had a much better 3rd round, but it was a false dawn, and any hope of a British win was quickly extinguished. Usyk gets stronger as the fight goes longer, and Dubois was already showing signs of fatigue in the 4th, and maybe somewhere deep inside, he knew the end was coming. But to his credit, he showed a little more aggression in the 5th, but it proved to be his undoing. Usyk scored his first knockdown, and while Dubois bravely fought back to try and turn the tide, a massive left hand dropped the IBF heavyweight champion for the second time, and the end came at the 1:52 point of the fifth round. Usyk was ruthless and spiteful, and Dubois had no answer to the punches that were coming back at him. This time, there were no excuses and no false narratives.

Usyk added the IBF bauble to complete his collection of world heavyweight titles, and at 38, he is showing no signs of decline. It was another masterclass from a generational talent and almost certainly a top-five heavyweight of all time. Dubois at 27 is young enough to come again, and at least he knows his latest comeback will not involve Oleksandr Usyk. For that, he can be thankful.

Photo Credit: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters