Although British heavyweights Daniel Dubois and David Adeleye are both coming off defeats, that doesn’t mean there will suddenly be a shortage of options for either man going forward.
In fact, given their respective ages (27 and 28), and the nature of the heavyweight division, there is still plenty for both men to fight for in the future. After all, neither of their reputations were damaged as a result of their latest setback, and, with time on their side, a setback is but a learning experience for a twentysomething heavyweight.
Dubois, who was stopped in the fifth round against Oleksandr Usyk last month, was a considerable underdog that night at Wembley Stadium and only his staunchest fans believed he had any chance of winning. That he was outclassed by Usyk, again, and stopped quicker this time than he was when they met two years ago, came as no real surprise. If anything, too, it was as much a testament to Usyk’s improvements than an indictment of Dubois’ limitations or any possible regression.
As for Adeleye, he fought Filip Hrgovic four weeks after Usyk-Dubois II and fell short on the cards after 10 action-packed rounds. Again, as with Dubois, he was the underdog going in, yet, unlike Dubois, Adeleye had fleeting moments of success against Hrgovic and even appeared on the brink of winning at one stage when, having been dropped in round eight, he recovered to badly hurt his Croatian opponent.
Since that night, Adeleye has licked his wounds – the Hrgovic defeat was his second as a pro – and consoled himself with the praise of outsiders. He has also started to think about what could be next and looked at where he currently fits in the British heavyweight pecking order.
Now alongside him, or at least close to him, is Daniel Dubois; someone whose opportunity to become the world heavyweight champion went up in smoke last month; someone who, like Adeleye, now needs to rebuild and find a win from somewhere.
“I want to be involved in another big fight where people think maybe I’m biting off more than I can chew, because I get to prove to people that I’m ready for that level,” Adeleye told Sky Sports this week. “I’m not the type to say ‘no’ to none of these fights.
“I’ve shared a ring many, many times sparring with him [Dubois], so he knows exactly what he’s in with when he gets in there with me. You’d like to be a fly on the wall in our sparring sessions. But it would be very good if we were to fight each other.”
While Adeleye, 14-2 (13 KOs), admits he was no more surprised than anyone else watching Dubois succumb to Usyk at Wembley, the manner of the defeat did, he said, reveal a side to his London rival he would aim to exploit should the pair ever meet. “He tried and then he quit, I think,” Adeleye said. “As soon as he realized it wasn’t going his way I think he bottled it a bit.”
Adeleye is not the first fighter to present this reading of Dubois’ reaction in round five against Usyk, nor indeed is this the first time Dubois, 22-3 (21 KOs), has been accused of looking for a “way out” once things get tough. The same accusation was levelled at Dubois back in 2020, when he lost for the first time against Joe Joyce, despite suffering a fractured eye socket that night. He was also dropped and stopped by what appeared to be no more than a jab when he and Usyk met for the first time in 2023. People didn’t like that, either.
Still, that’s Dubois’ business, not Adeleye’s. Dubois, in fact, will only become Adeleye’s business if common sense prevails and the powers that be realise that Dubois and Adeleye – two Queensberry-promoted heavyweights coming off defeats – could do worse than cross paths and meet at a time when both have never been more desperate for a win. Because sometimes, in a situation like that, desperation begets hunger and hunger begets action.
“A good fight, a good shootout. I think the fans will be in for a treat,” Adeleye said of a potential Dubois fight. “I’m open to any fight and I welcome any fight with open arms. I don’t mind fighting anybody.”
You see, that’s the other great thing about suffering a defeat: suddenly a fighter becomes a lot less selective and risk averse. Oh, and fights become a whole lot easier to make.
