Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois are to rematch in July at Wembley Stadium, London.
The fight comes almost two years after their first contest, when Usyk was a unified champion having twice beaten Anthony Joshua across 12 rounds. At that point, Dubois was a little greener but did manage to get Usyk down to the canvas though it was ruled low and Usyk was given all the time he needed to recover.
He did so and stopped Dubois in the 9th round, then went on to beat Tyson Fury to come the undisputed champion. He vacated the IBF belt for a Fury rematch, which he also won, and now wants to win the belt back off Dubois, who picked it up with a superb stoppage victory over Filip Hrgovic then defended it by stopping Joshua back in September.
Martin Bakole claims he has stopped both men in sparring and, speaking to iFL TV, he was asked what will happen in the match between the two. He firmly backs Usyk to do the double over ‘DDD.’
“Usyk, except me, beats everyone. Deontay Wilder I think is done. Usyk is a boxing man, boxing brain, boxing movement, I don’t think no one will stop him right now expect Martin Bakole.
“I know why I am saying that because I learn boxing from my brother, a southpaw, I know how to stop and cut off the ring. But Daniel Dubois doesn’t.
“I was expecting Usyk to get beat by ‘The Gypsy King’ but I was shocked he beat ‘The Gypsy King’ twice. Joshua is good, tough guy, but he doesn’t know how to cut the ring. Daniel Dubois will never change, he will just keep his style, but Usyk is [better] than him.”
The first face-off between Usyk and Dubois saw ‘DDD’ push Usyk in the chest before an argument ensued about Usyk ‘conning the referee’ with regards to the low blow. Usyk will be hoping for a much less controversial win the second time around.
