
Dubois ‘on a different' level before rematch with champ Usyk
The Ukrainian is undefeated as a professional, including a stoppage of Dubois two years ago, and hasn't lost any bout in 16 years. Usyk feasts on British fighters. He dethroned Anthony Joshua at a packed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2021. He won a gold medal at the London Olympics.
London native Dubois insists things will be different this time and that his three recent knockout victories – most impressively a demolition of Joshua last September at Wembley – prove that he's the guy who can do what no other professional has done: Beat Usyk.
'I'm just on a different level now,' the 27-year-old Dubois said. 'I'm ready to go through whatever I need to on Saturday and get those belts.'
An expected crowd of 90,000 will be on hand when Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) puts his WBA, WBC and WBO titles on the line. He'll try to win Dubois' IBF belt to become a two-time undisputed world heavyweight champion.
Lennox Lewis was the last British heavyweight to hold every major belt – accomplishing the feat in November 1999.
Usyk respects 'young guy' Dubois
Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) was outmatched by Usyk in their first fight, unable to defend the Ukrainian southpaw's jab and failing to land many power punches that night in Wroclaw, Poland, in August 2023. Dubois sent Usyk to the canvas in the fifth round, but his punch was ruled a low blow. A straight right ended Dubois' evening in the ninth.
The last fighter to beat Usyk was Russia's Egor Mekhontsev in September 2009, at the amateur world championships.
Usyk shrugged off chatter that he's getting too old to maintain success.
'I respect this guy, this young guy,' Usyk said. 'This guy is motivated, but I am too. I'm not an old guy, 38 is not old.'
Usyk's past six fights have been against British opponents – all victories: the last two against Tyson Fury; the Dubois stoppage; consecutive wins over Anthony Joshua; and before that Zimbabwe-born British boxer Derek Chisora.
Only one of his fights as a heavyweight involved a non-British opponent – that was in October 2019 against Chazz Witherspoon of the United States in his debut in the division.
Usyk happy to fight on Dubois' home soil in London
'I'm happy to be here again,' Usyk said at Wembley.
He has good reason to be.
He won an Olympic gold medal at the 2012 London Games. Four years prior in Liverpool, he was crowned amateur European champion in the light heavyweight category.
In his last fight at the cruiserweight level, Usyk knocked out Liverpool's Tony Bellew in Manchester. He beat Chisora at Wembley Arena in 2020.
Joseph Parker said he would approach Usyk the way Chisora did five years ago, by putting pressure on the Ukrainian and using more combinations.
'I feel like this fight depends on how Dubois shows up,' Parker said after Thursday's news conference. 'In the last three fights we've seen (him) a lot more confident within himself and what he's been able to do in the ring.'
Dubois was scheduled to make a title defence against Parker in February, but he backed out at the last minute, citing an illness.
Dubois is still heavily influenced by his father, Stanley, who also goes by Dave and guides his son's career. His dad believed in home-schooling his children, including Caroline Dubois, herself a world champion boxer. Caroline Dubois ventured away from her father's management almost two years ago, telling The Associated Press in January that 'it was either that or I probably would have ended up stopping boxing and just be in a really bad mental place.'
Riz Khan, Daniel Dubois' manager, said his fighter's success since the loss to Usyk is largely down to one person.
'The architect behind the resurgence has clearly been his father, Stan Dubois, who has meticulously hand-picked every single individual, whether it's the coaching team, whether it's the medics, whether it's from a management point of view, so we have all the credentials to support Daniel in the background,' Khan said.
Dubois' attempts at trash-talking seem more like checking a box rather than natural bravado, like when he cracked a smile after yelling 'And the new!' in Usyk's face this week. Earlier, there was also a slow-motion shove of Usyk that lacked conviction.
Still, he's the same dude he was in the buildup to the Joshua fight, and that was a spectacular success for Dubois.
'I'm a young lion and I've just got to take over and be the man – execute,' he said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Usyk set to face Parker in heavyweight title fight on WBO orders
The WBO has ordered negotiations for a bout between its interim heavyweight champion Joseph Parker and the unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, the ruling body has said. Both parties have 30 days to agree on terms for a mandatory defence of Usyk's title, and if they fail to do so, the WBO will open a purse bid. 'The minimum bid in the Heavyweight division is one million dollars … any of the parties herein may request purse bid proceedings at any time during negotiation stages,' the WBO said in a statement on Thursday. Usyk has held the WBO belt since 2021, when he won it from Anthony Joshua along with the WBA and IBF titles, and has defended it four times, also taking the WBC belt from Tyson Fury to become the unified champion. The undefeated Ukrainian vacated the IBF belt last year after opting not to face the sanctioning body's interim champion Daniel Dubois in favour of a rematch with Fury, which he won by unanimous decision in December. Usyk, 38, knocked out Dubois on Saturday to regain the IBF belt and undisputed status. New Zealand's Parker won the interim WBO championship last year in a majority decision over Zhilei Zhang. He defended it in February, knocking out Martin Bakole.


Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Manchester United signs forward Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford
Manchester United has signed forward Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford until 2030, with the option to extend for a further year, United said. United paid 65 million pounds ($88m) to Brentford, with another 6 million pounds ($8m) potentially due in add-ons for the 25-year-old Cameroon international, according to a club source. Mbeumo hit new heights in the 2024-25 league season, finishing with a career-high 20 goals to help Brentford to a solid 10th-place finish in the Premier League. Only Mohamed Salah (29), Alexander Isak (23) and Erling Haaland (22) scored more league goals. 'As soon as I knew there was a chance to join Manchester United, I had to take the opportunity to sign for the club of my dreams, the team whose shirt I wore growing up,' Mbeumo said on Monday. 'My mentality is to always be better than I was yesterday. I know that I have the spirit of character to reach another level here, learning from [manager] Ruben Amorim and playing alongside world-class players.' The versatile Mbeumo thrived on the right wing and also impressed as a centre-forward, proving indispensable for Brentford by starting every league game last season. He joined the London club from Ligue 2 side Troyes in 2019 and made 242 appearances, scoring 70 goals and providing 51 assists. 'Bryan's goals and assists record in the Premier League is exceptional. His remarkable consistency has put him amongst the most productive players in England for the last three seasons,' said United's director of football, Jason Wilcox. 'We are delighted to have secured another one of our primary targets ahead of the preseason tour. The experience in the US will be the perfect opportunity for Bryan to work with Ruben and his new teammates as we prepare for an exciting season ahead.' Mbeumo becomes United's fourth signing of the summer after the arrivals of Matheus Cunha, Diego Leon and youngster Enzo Kana-Biyik. United are playing three preseason matches in the United States: July 26 vs West Ham United in New Jersey, July 30 vs Bournemouth in Chicago and August 3 vs Everton in Atlanta. The wait is over. — Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 21, 2025


Al Jazeera
5 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Marc Marquez dominates Czech MotoGP to win fifth race in a row
Marc Marquez won the Czech MotoGP for his eighth victory in 12 races this season and fifth in a row, extending his commanding lead in the world championship. The factory Ducati rider beat Marco Bezzecchi on an Aprilia by almost two seconds on Sunday, while Pedro Acosta on a KTM came in third in his first race podium finish of the season. Marquez had a fifth straight perfect weekend, winning both the sprint on Saturday and Sunday's race. The 32-year-old Spaniard now leads the world championship with 381 points, 120 ahead of his younger brother Alex who crashed, and 168 ahead of Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia. 'It has been a super first part of the season and especially these last races,' Marquez said. 'I feel better and better and I'm riding super good,' he added. Marquez outpaces his rivals Bagnaia started from pole on a sunny Sunday at Brno but only retained the lead until the second lap when Bezzecchi eased past him, with Marquez following suit soon afterwards. Acosta did the same to settle down in third after getting a boost from a third-place finish in Saturday's sprint. Marquez glided past Bezzecchi on lap eight as the runaway trio kept building up their lead, and as so often this season kept widening the gap comfortably. The three stayed put until the finish line, although fourth-placed Bagnaia gave Acosta a hard time pressing from behind. 'The first lap was unbelievable,' said Bezzecchi. 'I had so much fun in the first half of the race but unfortunately when Marc passed me I immediately saw that he had something more.' 'I tried to attack but he was strong. Anyway, I made a fantastic performance, I'm very, very happy,' added the Italian. Reigning world champion Jorge Martin collected his first points after finishing seventh in the first race he has completed this year. Martin sat out the first three races following two pre-season crashes, and when he returned at Qatar in April, he crashed heavily again during the race and missed the next seven events. Brno returns faster than ever Marquez took 40min 04.628sec to complete the 21 laps on the resurfaced 5.4-kilometre Brno circuit returning to the MotoGP calendar after a five-year break due to financial woes. The enhanced on-track results of the Brno resurfacing was evident with lap times this year several seconds under the previous lap record. Bezzecchi crossed the line 1.753 seconds adrift of Marquez, while Acosta trailed the six-time MotoGP champion by 3.366sec. Almost 220,000 fans gathered in the stands for the weekend as Marquez recorded his fourth MotoGP win at Brno after victories in 2013, 2017 and 2019. Alex Marquez retired after crashing on lap two to leave Brno without a point following a disappointing 17th spot in the sprint race. He took out Joan Mir who also walked away from the gravel safety area, just like Enea Bastianini a lap later. Japan's Takaaki Nakagami was ruled out of the race after suffering a knee injury in a crash in Saturday's sprint. The MotoGP circus will now take a summer break and resume with the Austrian GP on August 15-17. 'Now it's the summer break but still 10 races to go. Time to relax, but in Austria I (will) keep the same mentality with the same intensity,' said Marquez. He is eyeing his seventh MotoGP world title – and first since 2019 – that would put him level with Valentino Rossi and one behind the legendary Giacomo Agostini.