Daniel Dubois, despite having a tough opponent in Joseph Parker on the horizon, is clear that he wants to unify his heavyweight belt with the three Oleksandr Usyk is in possession of.
Should things play out that way it would be the second time the two champions have faced off. Dubois travelled to Poland back in 2023 to challenge Usyk for the WBA, WBO and IBF belts.
He thought he found some success in the fifth round when the Ukrainian hit the deck, but the shot was immediately ruled to be a low blow and the champion was given ample time to recover before fighting on and taking back control.
Usyk would drop Dubois in the eighth and finish the job in the ninth, with many questioning the young Brit’s grit when he failed to stand to make the referee’s count.
Despite the clear victory, Dubois and his team feel ‘robbed’ of the win due to the controversial low blow. The 27-year-old made that clear when he stepped through the ropes last December to confront Usyk after his second win over Tyson Fury, calling for the rematch despite facing Parker on February 22.
Speaking on the idea of the return fight, Box Nation asked if Dubois had a chance to get the win and Khan said:
“Definitely.”
Elaborating, the fan-favourite Brit who retired in 2022 said lessons learned plus a great run of form consisting of stoppages against Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua put Dubois in a good place.
“Dubois has a good chance. Daniel Dubois, when I saw his fight against Hrgovic, I said this guy’s a beast. He’s a good fighter. He’s a hard fighter to beat. He’ll learn from the mistakes he made in the first fight against Usyk and he’ll give him a hard fight. Look, he has the tools to win that fight.”
All eyes turn to February 22, when Joseph Parker will once again be looking to spoil heavyweight plans as he did by beating Deontay Wilder in late 2023.
