I feel like I can't be beat right now – Dubois feeling good ahead of Usyk fight
Usyk was victorious during their first meeting in Poland back in 2023, but Dubois has rebuilt his career with impressive knockout wins against Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and compatriot Anthony Joshua during the past 18 months.
During an interview with the BBC before his workout at BOXPARK Wembley, Dubois said: 'I have resurrected myself, resurrected my career and now we're on a roll. Unstoppable, I feel like I can't be beat right now. I'm in the prime of my life and I'm going to go through whatever I have to do.'
Each media event until Wednesday has produced a flashpoint, with the first face-off on April 28 ending prematurely after Dubois pushed Usyk in the chest on the Wembley pitch.
A day later and Dubois' trainer Don Charles insisted Usyk deserved an 'Oscar' for his antics in 2023 where the Ukrainian was given more than three minutes to recover from a punch by the British boxer deemed to be an illegal low blow.
Dubois upped the ante again at the start of fight week on Tuesday when he shouted his own name in Usyk's face outside Wembley in response to chants in support of his rival, but Wednesday passed without incident.
Within five minutes of Dubois entering the canvas at 5.15pm to strong applause, the 27-year-old was out and heading for the exit following barely 60 seconds of shadow boxing.
A post shared by Queensberry (@queensberrypromotions)
'I'm grateful for this opportunity and ready to seize it. I'm ready for the moment.
'Tune in on Saturday because we're going to get that victory. Come on!
'To the whole team it means a lot, to all of us. We've worked hard for this and we're not going to let this one go.'
Usyk did ensure his workout lasted longer, but not by much, with the venue beginning to clear by 5.30pm.
After being announced to a thunderous ovation, with several Ukraine flags on display, Usyk proceeded to dance, shadow box and take a couple of hits to his body before he concluded a five-minute session with a reference to the ongoing war in his home country.
Wearing a black t-shirt with the words 'Free Azovstal Defenders' across the chest, Usyk highlighted the phrase, which refers to Ukrainian soldiers defending the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol from Russia, and then left the ring without an interview as attention now shifts to Thursday's press conference at Wembley.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
9 minutes ago
- Metro
Arsenal hero sends message to Noni Madueke amid 'sad' fan backlash
You certainly can't accuse Arsenal of being inactive in the window this summer, but whether the new signings and potential new recruits will be enough to power the Gunners to the title remains to be seen. The naysayers will point to Liverpool's already impressive summer, which has seen Arne Slot add two top class full-backs and smash the British transfer record to snare Florian Wirtz. Building from a position of strength, the best are getting even better, even without the arrival of a new centre forward, an issue that looks likely to be addressed imminently. Arsenal, however, can only look after themselves and while it might have been tempting to enter the race to sign Alexander Isak, plugging the gaping holes in their squad, exposed by last season's injury crisis, represents a far smarter use of the considerable funds that have again been made available to Mikel Arteta. Of the new additions, Martin Zubimendi's is perhaps the most intriguing. Will the addition of a genuine deep-lying playmaker, one in the prime of his career, prompt a more expansive style of play? If the Spaniard's addition shifts Arsenal back towards a side somewhere between the buccaneering nearly-men of two years ago and the overcautious, safety first unit that lost their way last term then there is no reason to suggest they cannot last the distance. The rest of the signings represent gambles, while even Eberechi Eze and Rodrygo, although level raisers, would come with no guarantees given it is not clear where the Crystal Palace playmaker would fit in, while there have been plenty of Real Madrid cast offs who have failed to shine in the Premier League. That said, this is a top class Arsenal side whose consistency over the last three years is often overlooked as a consequence of their lack of silverware. The new signings may only need to contribute the extra 10% required to get the Gunners over the line given the quality that Arteta already has at his disposal. If you're looking for a positive omen, cast your minds back to the summer of 2001 when Arsenal brought in Richard Wright, Francis Jeffers, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Sol Campbell at significant cost, while Edu was effectively a new signing given he hardly played following his arrival in January. Of that group, only Campbell could have been considered a genuine game changer, but that group all made valuable contributions across a campaign which saw Arsenal end a run of three second place finishes to complete a Premier League and FA Cup double under Arsene Wenger. James Goldman | Metro Sports Editor.
Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
Wales locked out of Lions as Curry named to start first test
BRISBANE, July 17 (Reuters) - Tom Curry was named at openside flanker in the British & Irish Lions team for the first test against Australia on Saturday, ensuring the tourists would field a test team without a Welshman for the first time since the late 19th century. Welsh hopes of a presence in the side had rested on poacher Jac Morgan but coach Andy Farrell preferred the proven quality of England's Curry in the starting side with Ben Earl and Ollie Chessum covering the loose forwards on the bench. "(Jac) was as close as you can imagine," Farrell told a news conference. "Look, you're actually gutted for players like that who ... could well easily be in this side on Saturday. But I suppose that shows the good place that we're at as a group." Farrell has gone for a conventional number eight in Jack Conan at the back of the scrum with his Ireland teammate Tadhg Beirne completing the back row at blindside flanker. "We feel that that's the right balance for the first test," Farrell said. "The combination of Tadhg's quality in the set piece and his all-around ability, either on the floor as a jackal or a ball playing six. That complements Jack also in a similar regard, with Tom being the engine that we all know." Scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park, fullback Hugo Keenan, winger James Lowe, lock Joe McCarthy, prop Tadhg Furlong and hooker Dan Sheehan complete an eight-strong Irish contingent in the starting side. There was no place for Ireland's Bundee Aki in the starting centre partnership, however, with Scotland's duo of Australian-born Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones lining up outside their test teammate Finn Russell at flyhalf. "There's absolutely no doubt that Bundee can play with Huw, and he's obviously played with Sione as well, but it's just making sure that we get the right balance of the impact that we need at any given time," Farrell said. "And I suppose those three starting, they do know each other, but they also know the way that this team wants to play." Captain Maro Itoje, right winger Tommy Freeman and prop Ellis Genge make up a four-strong English contingent with Curry but there was no place in the matchday 23 for Farrell's son Owen, who joined the tour as an injury replacement. Farrell said injured Australian-born Ireland winger Mack Hansen (foot) and Scottish fullback Blair Kinghorn (knee) were unlikely to be fit for next Tuesday's tour match against a First Nations-Pasifika XV in Melbourne. Team: 15–Hugo Keenan, 14–Tommy Freeman, 13–Huw Jones, 12–Sione Tuipulotu, 11–James Lowe, 10–Finn Russell, 9–Jamison Gibson-Park, 8–Jack Conan, 7–Tom Curry, 6–Tadhg Beirne, 5–Joe McCarthy, 4–Maro Itoje (captain), 3–Tadhg Furlong, 2–Dan Sheehan, 1–Ellis Genge Replacements: 16–Ronan Kelleher, 17–Andrew Porter, 18–Will Stuart, 19–Ollie Chessum, 20–Ben Earl, 21–Alex Mitchell, 22–Marcus Smith, 23–Bundee Aki
Scottish Sun
39 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
‘I've never seen anything like it' – Daniel Dubois defies logic with gymnastics training a secret to his success
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) HULKING heavyweight Daniel Dubois defies logic with ancient training methods from 1,000 years ago proving the secret to his success. Dubois has worked with calisthenics coach Cuong Hua for the past seven years - performing moves no 6ft 5in and 17 STONE man should ever be able to do. 7 Hulking Daniel Dubois uses age old training methods 7 Here is the heavyweight with calisthenics coach Cuong Hua 7 Calisthenics a form of strength training that uses your own body weight as resistance 7 Trainer Hua has 'never seen anything like it' when it comes to Dubois Credit: YouTube / Sun Sport News Calisthenics a form of strength training that uses your own body weight as resistance - for example pull ups and press ups. It is usually the main base of training for gymnasts - but in IBF heavyweight champion Dubois case it extends to boxing. Trainer Hua told SunSport: "The optimal weight and size gymnast for men is 5ft 8 max, 65-75kg. "But Daniel, I've said before he's cut from a different cloth. He's built differently. READ MORE IN BOXING GETTING THE DUB Daniel Dubois must be a 'crazy DEMON' to beat Oleksandr Usyk, warns Chisora "His body weight, for a big man, I've never seen anything like it. I've trained a lot of smaller guys, I've worked with boxers but Daniel is something else. "Even compared to some of the smaller boxers I've worked with, his body weight on the bar, on the ring, it's completely something else." Hua added: "This is calisthenics, it's been around for thousands of years. "It's the oldest from of training and the most organic where you're just using your body weight. 7 USYK VS DUBOIS 2: Stream, TV channel and undercard info for blockbuster Wembley fight Watch Usyk vs Dubois 2 LIVE on DAZN CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS "The strength that you can build, that kind of pound for pound weigh that the gymnasts have, I think you can only get that from body weight and calisthenics and movement and mobility." Dubois is no stranger to age-old training methods. In camp with Daniel Dubois ahead of Oleksandr Usyk bout He turned professional in 2017 off the back of stories of how he would do press ups for up to FIVE HOURS on the orders of his dad. And Dubois, 27, said: "I think it has massively the help from Cuong and everyone else that's added to me. "And also just the basic ground work my dad made me and my siblings do when we were younger, that's still in us. "So I'm going to have the athletic edge over these guys." Dubois heads into the biggest fight of his career on Saturday against Oleksandr Usyk - who he was beaten by in nine rounds in 2023. Since that loss, the Londoner has beaten Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and most recently Anthony Joshua by knockout in September. And he said ahead of the undisputed showdown: "I'm going to come in with one goal in mind and that's to win. Win by any means necessary. "Sharp, on point, serious work, serious business and on the night perform to the best I've ever fought like it's my last fight." 7 Oleksandr Usyk beat Dubois in 2023 Credit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
