Boxing news: Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois 2, preview and prediction

On April 27, it was announced that Daniel Dubois and Oleksandr Usyk would fight for the second time at the height of their careers.

With Usyk previously beating Tyson Fury twice, after the first fight he went on to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, winning all the belts in heavyweight boxing.

That was until the IBF stripped Usyk of their belt for fighting Tyson Fury for the second time and not his mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic, writes Sports News Blitz’s Jonathon House.

Dubois later fought Hrgovic, stopping him in the eighth round to become the IBF world champion.

Even though Usyk beat Tyson Fury twice, for most fans it was clear that Usyk was number one and no one could deny it.

He was the undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight, taking all of Anthony Joshua’s belts from him then beating Fury to win all the belts.

Dubois, on the other hand, had a career-changing win over Joshua, knocking him out in the fifth round, defending his IBF world title.

Usyk vs Dubois 1 - mini break down

The first fight between the two certainly had a lot of controversy.

In the fifth round, Dubois caught Usyk with a low blow which many fans thought was a body shot.

Usky went down but no knock down was scored. Usky was clearly hurt by the shot, and it took him a while to recover.

Dubois tired very quickly going into the later rounds against Usyk. After the low blow, Usyk started to wear Dubois down - and in the fifth round, he caught Dubois off balance.

Usyk recovered very quickly and was boxing very well, landing shots on Dubois and boxing convincingly.

Dubois was going for the body and hurting Usyk a bit, but Usyk managed to stay composed and landed a decent combination in the eighth round, knocking Dubois down.

In the ninth round, Usyk landed a big right hand on Dubois knocking him down and Usyk won by a KO.

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Two back-to-back wins against Fury

On May 18, 2024 a long-anticipated heavyweight fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury was announced.

It was the most hyped fight boxing had seen in a while as there had not been an undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis, so there was a lot of excitement about this fight.

Usyk beat Fury by split decision to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Usyk was undisputed cruiserweight champion and now the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Usyk’s career has been remarkable.

However, the second fight with Tyson Fury was not for all the belts as the IBF had stripped Usyk of his belt and Dubois had hold of the IBF belt.

But with two back-to-back wins against Tyson Fury there was no doubt Usyk was number one heavyweight in the world.

Dubois’ career-changing win

In September 2024, Dubois knocked out Joshua in the fifth round defending his IBF belt for the first time in his career.

Dubois was now at the height of his career and was supposed to fight Joseph Parker earlier this year, but had to pull out because of illness.

Now the rematch is lined up for July and many fans are hyped.

Prediction

With Usyk having fought Dubois previously, and knowing that Dubois has power, I am expecting Usyk to be a lot more cautious than he was the first time.

I am expecting Dubois to go at Usyk early and put the pressure on him, which is exactly what he needs to do, as the longer this fight goes on, the more it will favour Usyk.

I think Usyk will stop Dubois in the latter rounds, either in the 10th or 11th round.

I feel like Usyk’s boxing ability will be too much for him - but whatever happens, this is sure to be a great fight.

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