Two of the best heavyweights in the world are meeting for the second time with professional and personal stakes.
A win for Oleksandr Usyk would make him a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion, regaining the world title he vacated last year. It would erase any lingering controversy from his first win over Daniel Dubois in 2023. And it would potentially send Usyk off into the sunset, retiring on a high note after a stellar amateur and professional career – unless he looks at the long list of potential opponents and decides it is worthwhile to continue on for a little longer.
A win for Dubois, meanwhile, would be both a storybook ending and a new beginning. He’s had high expectations and low points. He’s had a pair of setbacks and three big wins since. He has one world title and is one win away from becoming the undisputed champ, setting up even more big matches. Every new king is going to have people trying to take his throne.
Among those awaiting the winner of Usyk-Dubois II are secondary titleholders Agit Kabayel, Joseph Parker and Kubrat Pulev; contenders Efe Ajagba, Martin Bakole, Lawrence Okolie, Frank Sanchez and tertiary titleholder Fabio Wardley; and top prospect Moses Itauma. Even the three former top heavyweights – Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder – may seek a shot at the winner.
Their eyes, and ours, will be on Usyk and Dubois this weekend. Here are the details:
When is Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois II?
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois II is on Saturday, July 19. The broadcast will begin at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time (5:30 p.m. BST).
What channel is Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois II?
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois II is a pay-per-view available via DAZN.
Where is Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois II?
The fight is taking place at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Who is Oleksandr Usyk?
Usyk, 23-0 (14 KOs), is the WBA, WBC and WBO titleholder and lineal heavyweight champion. Over the past 13 years, he earned Olympic gold at heavyweight – the amateur equivalent to cruiserweight – in 2012, and has since become one of the best professional boxers of this generation. Usyk won the undisputed cruiserweight championship and the undisputed heavyweight championship, beat a “who’s who” in each of those weight classes, and triumphed while on the road, often in hostile territory.
The 38-year-old Ukrainian defeated Krzysztof Glowacki in Poland for his first cruiserweight world title, stopped Thabiso Mchunu and outpointed Michael Hunter in the United States, took out Marco Huck in Germany, unified belts with a close decision over Mairis Briedis in Latvia, and won widely on the scorecards against Murat Gassiev in Russia to become undisputed at 200lbs. For his final act in the weight class, Usyk traveled to England and stopped Tony Bellew.
All of that took place between September 2016 and November 2018. There was more to come.
The 6-foot-3 Usyk moved up to heavyweight next, testing the waters against Chazz Witherspoon in 2019 (TKO7) and Derek Chisora in 2020 (a sometimes difficult UD12). Usyk’s status as a former WBO cruiserweight titleholder earned him a shot at Anthony Joshua, who counted the WBO among his three heavyweight belts. Usyk took those titles from Joshua via unanimous decision in September 2021 and retained them via split decision in their August 2022 rematch.
Usyk’s next defense put him in with Dubois in August 2023 in Poland, as close to a homecoming fight as Usyk could get given the ongoing war in his neighboring homeland.
Usyk stopped Dubois in the ninth round. But what most people still talk about to this day took place in the fifth round: Dubois put Usyk on the canvas with what some felt was a legal body shot on the beltline, while others (including the referee) saw it as an accidental foul that veered low. To this day, replay footage hasn’t settled the debate. For those who believe it was a legal blow, they note that Usyk remained on the canvas for some time and argue that Dubois was robbed of a victory.
It’s wholly plausible that Usyk could have responded differently and beaten the count had the ref not called it a low blow. It’s also possible that he might not have. And even if Usyk had beaten the count, he wouldn’t have received the benefit of the nearly four minutes of recovery time, first on the mat and then on his feet, before the fight resumed.
In May 2024, Usyk took on WBC titleholder Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia for the undisputed championship. The first half of the fight seemed to be going Fury’s way, as he hammered Usyk with uppercuts and body shots. Then, in the ninth round, Usyk had Fury badly hurt and staggering around the ring. The referee called a knockdown. Some wondered whether the referee would have been within his rights to call the fight.
Usyk won a split decision, one point making the difference between a victory and a draw. His time as the undisputed champion didn’t last long, however. Dubois was waiting as his mandatory for the IBF belt, but Usyk was contractually obligated for a Fury rematch back in Riyadh. Despite vacating the IBF title, Usyk remained (and remains) the one true king and retained with wider scores against Fury when they met again this past December.
Who is Daniel Dubois?
Dubois, 22-2 (21 KOs), is a 27-year-old from London who was on the rise, suffered two significant defeats, and has since improved and rebuilt. Dubois has the IBF world title and the attention of his home country. If he wins this rematch with Usyk, the 6-foot-5 Dubois will be the undisputed champion and the next huge heavyweight star from the U.K.
Dubois was unfairly criticized following his 10th-round loss to Joe Joyce in 2020; Dubois went down to one knee and listened to the referee’s count after suffering a fractured eye socket. Dubois bounced back with four wins, including stoppages of Trevor Bryan and Kevin Lerena. In the latter, Dubois visited the canvas himself three times in the first round after a leg injury but was able to put Lerena away in the third.
That brought Dubois into the ring with Usyk in 2023 to challenge for three world titles. This is the bout in which Dubois landed a shot that continues to be hotly debated – some feel it was a legal blow on the beltline while others believe it was an accidental foul that veered low. Usyk recovered and stopped Dubois in the ninth.
Two setbacks can derail a fighter or signify that he’s nearing his ceiling. Dubois was still young and malleable. He and his team worked on fixing his flaws and improving his strengths.
Their work has been evident: Dubois stopped Jarrell Miller in the final seconds of their fight in December 2023, then defeated Filip Hrgovic on cuts in June 2024 for the interim IBF title. When Usyk vacated the primary IBF belt, Dubois was upgraded. His first defense was in front of a huge crowd in Wembley Stadium, where Dubois brought fans to their feet with his five-round drubbing of Anthony Joshua.
Now Dubois is back at Wembley for this rematch with Usyk. He’s already quite the success story. Will he be able to provide this story with its fairy-tale ending?
What other fights are on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois II?
The chief supporting bout features a heavyweight bout between former cruiserweights Lawrence Okolie and Kevin Lerena.
Okolie, 21-1 (16 KOs), held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2021 until 2023, losing it via majority decision to Chris Billam-Smith. Okolie then moved up to bridgerweight, defeating Lukasz Rozanski for the WBC belt. Okolie subsequently made the jump to heavyweight, packing a massive 260lbs onto his 6-foot-5 frame for a one-round drubbing of the 18-1 Hussein Muhamed last December.
Lerena, 31-3 (15 KOs), is a 6-foot-1 former cruiserweight contender who went up to heavyweight in 2022, knocking out Bogdan Dinu, outpointing Mariusz Wach, and losing a competitive three-rounder battle with Daniel Dubois. He then went down to bridgerweight, winning the interim WBC title in November 2023 with a unanimous decision over Senad Gashi. Lerena tried heavyweight again at the start of 2024, losing a competitive decision to Justis Huni.
When Okolie officially departed the bridgerweight division in October 2024, Lerena was upgraded to the full titleholder. He made his first defense in May, defeating the 11-7 Serhiy Radchenko by third-round TKO.
Also on this show is a light heavyweight bout between unbeaten prospects Daniel Lapin, 11-0 (4 KOs), and Lewis Edmondson, 11-0 (3 KOs).
The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
