Usyk defeats Dubois to become undisputed world heavyweight champion for a second time

ITV News

a day ago

Oleksandr Usyk scored a fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion for a second time.
The heavily anticipated fight at Wembley Stadium on Saturday saw the Ukrainian seal victory with a crunching left hook to Dubois' jaw.
The undefeated southpaw retained his WBA, WBC and WBO belts, and regained the IBF belt he relinquished just over a year ago.
Speaking afterwards, 38-year-old Usyk said he had no plans to retire any time soon, naming Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Joseph Parker as possible next foes.
"I will continue boxing and I will continue training, but now I cannot say who my next opponent will be," Usyk said during the post-match press conference.
"I prepared for three and a half months. I've not seen my family, my wife. Every day I live with my team - 14 guys in one house. Now I want to go back home."
Usyk dropped Dubois twice in the fifth round, the second time with a lunging left hook midway through the round after Dubois missed with the right. The London native looked stunned and couldn't beat the count before about 90,000 spectators at Wembley.
Dubois joined British countrymen Fury and Joshua in having lost twice to Usyk, who was undisputed world champion as a cruiserweight before he moved up in weight six years ago.
27-year-old Dubois told DAZN: "I gave everything I had. Take no credit away from that man, I'll be back."
Dubois was hoping to become the first British heavyweight to hold every major belt since Lennox Lewis just over 25 years ago.
Speaking to ITV News ahead of the fight, Dubois said when he thought about Usyk, all he saw was "the guy I gotta go through, the obstacle in my way, the guy I gotta break up and take them belts from".
When asked about what he loved most about boxing, he said: "Victory, discipline and the spoils of war."
But Usyk was equally as confident when ITV News spoke to him and said "it didn't matter" that London-born Dubois was likely to be the more popular of the two among the crowd at Wembley, saying "focus just [on] the ring, it will be a great win."Their first bout happened in Wroclaw, Poland in August 2023, with Usyk controlling much of the fight.
A low blow in the fifth round remains the talking point.
Dubois's punch sent Usyk to the floor with referee Luis Pabon ruling it an illegal low blow, though Dubois's camp accused Usyk of pretending to be hurt. Usyk was given nearly four minutes to recover.
Usyk scored a knockdown late in the eighth round and ended it a round later with a straight right that dropped Dubois.
When asked by ITV News, Usyk dismissed speculation that the recovery time helped him win the match, saying "it doesn't matter".
He said the only opinion that mattered was the "opinion of my family, my wife, my team, my children, my mama."
After Saturday's fight, when Usyk was asked whether he thinks he's one of the sport's all-time greats, he answered "no".
"I don't have motivation, I have discipline. Motivation is temporary," he said.