Usyk V. Dubois II: The Cat Always Lands…
Oleksandr Usyk's precision and footwork led to a fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois in their thrilling rematch at Wembley.
Ninety thousand fans. One fabled stadium. Two heavyweights who know each other too well. When Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois returned to the ring for their rematch under the hot July lights at Wembley, the boxing world expected answers to as many questions as punches thrown.
Fight week in London pulsed with anticipation, the city humming like a tuning fork. Flags and face paint painted Wembley Way. Usyk's yellow and blue filled the pubs, as Dubois' homegrown faithful talked up a redemption story.
Betting shops tightened their odds to favour the crafty southpaw, but after Dubois' recent KO streak, few dared dismiss a revenge twist. By Friday's weigh-in, the faceoff looked like the prelude to a classic Greek tragedy—hero versus challenger, pride versus legacy.
The ringside angle of ???????????????? left hand by Oleksandr Usyk🎯 #UsykDubois2 pic.twitter.com/2GxIcVZoH6 — DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) July 19, 2025
Despite contrasting backgrounds and boxing roots, both men's recent paths seemed destined to collide again. Usyk, now 38 but physically sharper than ever, glided into London on the heels of back-to-back wins over Tyson Fury—still irked by the IBF's cold-blooded decision to strip his title.
For Usyk, it was an occasion to reassert textbook perfection.
On fight night, everything felt amplified. Usyk's walk-in, choir in tow, built to a crescendo that silenced the audience in respect; Dubois' ring walk, spiked with fireworks and local chants, turned up the London pride.
The Dismantling:
Round 1
The opening stanza was all about measuring distance and intellect. Dubois charged to the center, intent on bullying the smaller man from the first exchange. But Usyk, all pivots and feints, had other plans.
Slipping past Dubois' busy jab and stiff right, Usyk found his range with the southpaw jab, marking territory and scoring cleanly. Two minutes in, a mean straight left pierced Dubois' high guard and drew a collective hiss from those close enough to feel its sting. According to CompuBox, Usyk out-landed Dubois, 11 to 7—a sign that, at least early, timing was trumping muscle.
Round 2
The second round saw Usyk settle into his element, pivoting his lead foot to set traps and force Dubois off rhythm. The Brit, feeling the crowd and the moment, tried lunging in with a double jab, while his corner barked for more aggression.
Usyk bided his time, waiting for each overreach before cracking home two counters to the midsection. Every time Dubois tried to load up, Usyk slipped and responded with a piston-like jab or a hard left to the body. By the bell, Usyk's connect tally ticked upward, and Dubois, visibly frustrated, returned to his stool already having to reset his plan.
Round 3
By round three, the mood at Wembley shifted. Realising the points deficit and the struggle to close range, Dubois went for broke, a heavy overhand right swung for the fences. Usyk, ever the master of angles, rolled beneath it and answered with a nimble left hook that wobbled the bigger man.
You could feel the crowd sensing the balance of power shifting. Dubois, a proven knockout artist, now appeared the more tentative fighter, his mouthguard working overtime as he sucked in oxygen.
Round 4
Then, controversy flickered in round four. Dubois dug to the body, his glove straying low and drawing a grimace from Usyk. The referee paused to issue a warning, and for a moment, memories of their first fight's 'low blow affair" threatened to take center stage.
Usyk waved off the incident, resetting quickly and finishing the round with a surgical three-punch combo. Dubois now looked hunted, blinking and pawing at the air, as Usyk's confidence swelled.
And then, the fight found its highlight reel. With only fifteen seconds gone in the fifth, Usyk feinted down, tricking Dubois into lowering his guard. The Ukrainian launched a vicious overhand right over the top, dropping Dubois to his knees.
Wembley's volume leapt to jet-engine decibels. Dubois hauled himself upright, his eyes glassy and legs watery. Usyk showed no mercy. Smelling the end, he walked Dubois to the ropes, waited for the desperate overhand, and detonated a sweeping left hook that sent Dubois crashing to the canvas—gumshield launched, dreams dashed.
At 1:52, referee Steve Grey had seen enough, waving it off to a roar only Wembley could summon.
The numbers told a tale of precision over power:
Usyk's mastery was in the details. His footwork, a kaleidoscope of pivots and shifts, forced Dubois to chase and miss—according to round-by-round stats, Dubois' connect rate plummeted as frustration built. As the Brit overreached, each miss queued up a textbook counter, a pattern that climaxed in the decisive knockdowns.
'He discombobulated Dubois; he mesmerised him. Under 15 minutes of pure wizardry," observed a ringside Gareth A. Davies, encapsulating the collective awe from fans and analysts alike. In the ring, Usyk served up a playful rebuke to talk of his age: 'Thirty-eight is a young guy—only the start."
Dubois accepted defeat with candour. 'I gave everything I had. He's a generational great." Sometimes, the better man wins.
With his status as a three-time undisputed champion secure, Usyk's legacy grows ever more luminous. He is now the first fighter of the four-belt era to hold undisputed crowns three times across two divisions, forcing historians and fans alike to compare him with Lennox Lewis, Muhammad Ali, and Joe Louis.
As promoter Frank Warren confirmed, Joseph Parker will be the WBO's mandated challenger, and Tyson Fury wasted little time teasing a third encounter on social media: 'See you soon, rabbit."
For Dubois, reflection and rebuilding are next. Youth and power remain on his side, even if the myth of his invincibility is forever pierced.
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On social media, the impact was instant and global. Within minutes, #UsykDubois2 soared to the top trending spot. Ring Magazine's post highlighting Usyk's shocking 71% power-punch accuracy was shared and debated millions of times.
As midnight passed and Wembley emptied, the echoes of another classic reverberated through the sport. Usyk didn't simply win—he reminded everyone why boxing, at its best, is equal parts intellect and violence, poetry and punishment. As he knelt in quiet thanks, the world asked a question echoing around the division: Who, if anyone, can ever catch 'The Cat"?
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July 20, 2025, 07:29 IST
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