Latest news with #DanielDubois
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The ultimate pushy parent? Meet Daniel Dubois' 'crazy taskmaster' dad, who made his son do BRUTAL workouts as a child, 'made millions selling posters' as a market trader, and threw lavish party before Oleksandr Usyk fight
Name us a more fascinating father in boxing than Daniel Dubois ' dad and we'll show you a flying pig. Stanley Dubois - real name Dave - is under the cosh from boxing fans after throwing a lavish 70-person party at his Essex mansion just hours before his son's defeat by Oleksandr Usyk in the biggest fight of his career. How could Stanley, the boxing community wonders, expect Daniel to make merry with complete strangers, a misstep which saw him arrive later than ideal and lose his parking spot at Wembley? It is a question only Stanley and Daniel can answer. The Times broke the initial report of the party, though it remains unclear to what extent the boxer consented to it going ahead. But it is also worth asking: where would Dubois have been without his father in the first place? Dynamite has called his dad a 'legend' and a 'prophet,' crediting him for his rise in the brutal arenas of boxing. Stanley says he had a vision before Daniel was born that he would be a champion. That much has come true - the London-born bone crusher went into Saturday's bout holding the IBF title, though he was unable to unite the belts. 'Before he was born I had a vision that he would become a world champion boxer,' he told The Times this year. 'Then I saw that he had a lot of muscle and so I said to myself, I'm going to get him into the game as soon as I can. I was training him up by the time he was four years old. 'A lot of people don't have the vision I have. When you do have one, as Malcolm X did or any great leader, it comes from an outside force. It doesn't come from your mother, your father — it comes from God.' He took Daniel to his first boxing gym aged nine and would have him study VHS tapes of Frank Bruno and Lennox Lewis - who was the last British unified heavyweight world champion - to hone his craft. Stanley has had 11 kids via two marriages and homeschooled them from a council flat in Deptford, southeast London. Breakfast wasn't Golden Nuggets or Coco Pops. Daniel's daily morning palette was an entire chicken. But he wasn't just fed with protein, he was nourished with the word of God. In the living room, the children would recite the first verse of Psalm 144: 'Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who strengthens my hands for war and my fingers for battle.' Alongside that, hours of push-ups. Daniel used to do his with his fists closed - he still has the scars to this day - for up to three hours at a time. There would be no food or drink until they had finished. When he was five years old, he broke the world record for the most consecutive push-ups completed by a child at that age. 'You can do amazing things in a stable like where Jesus was born,' Stanley once said. Don Charles, Dubois' trainer, holds this education in high esteem. 'It was very tribal. Stanley Dubois is perceived within the boxing fraternity as this crazy, hard taskmaster,' he told The Guardian. 'He is – but there's a method to that madness. It turned out to be a genius move as it motivated Daniel.' Daniel isn't the only bruiser to graduate from his father's school of combat. His sister Caroline is the WBC lightweight champion, his brother prince had some amateur fights, while his brother Solomon often trains with Daniel. Given all of this, you'd expect Stanley to have some sort of background in the sport. Not so. In fact, he actively disliked boxing when he was growing up. 'I got punched in the nose once and never went back,' he said. Stanley was born in west London to a pair of Grenadian immigrants. By 16, he was the father of twins and homeless. This was no salubrious upbringing. His bed for the night was the hard floor of a laundrette. What he did have was an entrepreneurial spirit. The details are hard to independently verify, but Stanley picked himself out of the doldrums with one of the old-fashioned routes up the social ladder - by becoming a market trader. Posters were his game. London, New York, and the Caribbean were his playground. He claims that by age 23, he was the most successful street trader in the world, forking in millions. 'We were taking ten grand every Sunday at Camden Market,' he said in a different interview with The Times. His first week in New York raked in $40,000. 'I had the gift of the gab back then. There was no one in New York taking money like me.' An extraterrestrial-themed poster banked him a fortune. 'I had a few artists draw me some images and I came out with a poster called, "Take me to your dealer." 'It was an alien landing on earth passing over a Rizla, and it just blew up. That poster sold millions because people started wholesaling from me. I sold 80,000 copies to someone in France.' The profit margins were reportedly so good, at least according to him, that you wonder why more people don't go into making posters. Each one, he says, cost just 5p to produce but sold for £2 - off print runs of 2,000. While he was no boxer himself, Stanley maintains that their ancestry holds the key. One such forebear, Silvia Dubois, was an 18th-century slave and bare-knuckle boxer in New Jersey. A single punch almost killed her slave mistress and cost her her life - but instead she was let free. Often boxers tell us stories of pent-up aggression, of taking out their frustrations with the world on the bags in the gym to keep themselves from darker pursuits. When he was five years old he broke the world record for the most consecutive push-ups completed by a child at that age Daniel describes a different childhood - he says that when he wasn't boxing, he was distracting himself with other activities such as chess, board games, and siwmming. Father Charles felt it was too dangerous to have his kids grow up in schools and hanging around on the streets - he cites the dangers of growing up in London, particularly for a family of their background, as a motive for raising his kids behind closed doors. Their few ventures into the public arena often consisted of a boxing gym trip. he did a circuit of amateur clubs in London: 'Repton, Dale Youth, Lynn, West Ham, Fisher and Islington.' Eventually it made him a British amateur champion. A commonwealth titlist. Then a professional with a record of 22 wins from 25 fights, including 21 knockouts. Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic, Anthony Joshua, all dispatched by his devastating right hand. To this day, while Dubois has a fleet of trainers around him, his dad remains influential. And whoever he is preparing for, his father will come out with the same motivational line: Your opponent is working harder than you. Daniel's cloistered upbringing has an evident impact on his life even today. His phone, it is understood, does not even have the internet on it. Does he even know videos of his dad's party were leaked? Does he even care that people are talking about it? For all of the reaction on social media to the revelry, which has seen Stanley painted as some sort of traitor to the British boxing establishment, the man who jeopardised our chance to have a unified heavyweight champion again, Daniel's opinion of his father is the polar opposite. We return to the question of where he would have been without Stanley, and Dynamite's answer is crystal clear. Father Dubois says he made millions from being a market trader, selling cheap posters Sadly Daniel could not match Usyk in the ring, losing to the Ukrainian 11 years his senior 'I wouldn't be here without him,' he told Boxing News. '[My upbringing has] prepared and strengthened me. Sometimes you have to go through hell to get to paradise.'
The Sun
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Oleksandr Usyk is one of boxing's greats – but he'll never be able to enjoy success due to horrors of Ukraine war
OLEKSANDR USYK'S fame and fortune is a 'curse' while his friends and countrymen are lying dead in trenches and bomb sites. Derek Chisora lost a 12-round decision against the two-weight undisputed genius in 2020 but the pair bashed up an unlikely bromance. 5 5 5 The heavyweight heroes meet at a Ukrainian sauna when the Brit-basher visits London, and they speak regularly on the phone, when the 41-year-Londoner can hear missiles and rockets raging over his roof. Del Boy was ringside to watch Usyk's latest four-belt crowning over Daniel Dubois on Saturday night at Wembley, cementing his place as a generational talent and a multi-millionaire. But he told our Split Decision YouTube show that all the belts and cash in the world are wasted on the devout 38-year-old, while Vladimir Putin lays siege to his home and slaughters his nation. Chisora explained: 'He has made so much money but he can't enjoy it because his country is at war. 'He can't go around driving a Lamborghini while his friends are having their houses destroyed and they are dying. He is cursed. 'He can't go on holiday in St Tropez and sunbathe and drink tequila because his friends are in the trenches. 'He can't enjoy his money. He can't because he is all Ukraine has right now." Since the 2022 invasion, Usyk has scythed through British boxing 's best big men. 5 CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS After Chisora was outpointed, the gap-toothed southpaw did almost faultless doubles over Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and now 27-year-old Dubois. And the Englishman reckons the sickening onslaught his people are facing is inspiring him in a way that transcends sport. Oleksandr Usyk has press conference in stitches as he NAMES the left hook that floored Daniel Dubois at Wembley He said: 'The population is going down because so many people, young men, are dying. 'It's so difficult for him but it's also why he is so dedicated, he is doing it for his whole nation. 'If it's your destiny then it's your destiny. If God says it's your path then nothing will take you away from it.' Arguments about cross-generation fantasy fights will rage on in pubs and online forums. But Chisora tries to keep it short and sweet. He added: 'Usyk is 100 per cent a top-10 heavyweight and he is in my top-five. 'European amateur champion, Olympic gold medalist, undisputed cruiserweight world champion and two-time undisputed heavyweight champion. 'What more else can he do? He has whooped us all. He has taken the p***!' 5
The Sun
15 hours ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Derek Chisora claims Daniel Dubois QUIT against Oleksandr Usyk – but offers to help turn him into a ‘killer'
DEREK CHISORA claims Daniel Dubois QUIT against Oleksandr Usyk — but now he wants to help him take up the British heavyweight torch. Chisora was ringside as the Ukraine icon stopped 27-year-old Dubois in the fifth round of Saturday night's undisputed decider at Wembley. 6 6 6 And he knows how incredible Usyk, 38, is after losing a close points decision against him in 2020. Del Boy does not use the Q-word lightly — knowing the stigma and stench it carries in boxing. But he believes ex-IBF champion Dubois — who he sparred with as an amateur lad — can recover and fill the Brit void he, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will leave behind. On SunSport's Split Decision YouTube show, Chisora, 41, explained: 'For me, he quit. ' The biggest stage of your life, for undisputed, we're in the game of getting hit in the head. You get up and fight again. 'He got up and walked back to his corner, normally. His corner chucked the towel in because they knew he wanted to come out. 'He was supposed to give it one last hurrah before he gets knocked out — just go in there and chuck everything that he could. 'We're in the game of fighting and you have to go to the well when you have to. People have spent hard-earned money to watch you. 6 'You just go out on your shield. This is why we're having a go at him because we are gonna say what we need to say: 'You didn't go out on your shield.'' Fury, 36, sent Dubois a message reminding him of his achievements and offering him a place at his Morecambe gym any time. Tyson Fury leaps to Daniel Dubois' defence after Oleksandr Usyk defeat But Chisora feels tough love is the only way to get Dubois' heart as big and powerful as his biceps. And Chisora blasted: 'That's a f***ing bulls*** message as Tyson knows to go out on his shield. 'If you're going to lose properly, you go out on your shield. We just cannot sugarcoat it. 'I've had 49 fights, have you ever seen me quit? Exactly. I just don't know how to quit. Tyson is not a quitter, AJ is not a quitter. Daniel did not get up as he did not want no more. 'They have to fix that. We're not talking badly — but it will happen again and again and again.' 6 It sounds brutal but Chisora is trying to be kind by being cruel. He added: 'The first time I sparred Daniel was years ago when he was an amateur and he whooped my arse. 'I got him back again . . . and he whooped my arse again. Got him back again, he whooped my arse. 'If he trains differently, he'd whoop everybody's arse. He whooped my arse badly before he turned pro. 'Right now, he trains by himself, but when you hang out with other killers, you want to be a killer. 'He's never going to leave his dad, we don't want him to, we want him to train with other fighters, that's it. 'Dubois was the guy we were trying to hand the torch to. Fury, me and AJ are nearly gone, so he was THE guy — our guy. 'We asked him to represent us and he is that guy.' 6
The Independent
16 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Daniel Dubois' coach responds to ‘party' claims after knockout by Oleksandr Usyk
Daniel Dubois 's coach has responded to claims that the heavyweight attended a pre-fight 'party' before being knocked out by Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley Stadium. On Saturday (19 July), Usyk dropped Dubois twice in the fifth round to secure a stoppage win, becoming a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion in the process. The result followed Usyk's 2023 TKO of Dubois, keeping the Ukrainian, 38, unbeaten and extending his sublime record against British fighters. Yet while much of the post-fight narrative has centred on Usyk's talents, the emergence of a video has led to talk of an alleged pre-fight 'party' at Dubois's family home – an event that might have distracted the 27-year-old, according to many fans, pundits and fighters. Dubois's coach, Don Charles, has sought to set the record straight after the event was first reported on by The Times, telling Talksport on Tuesday (22 July): 'Let's replace the word 'party' with 'gathering'. It was a gathering, okay? Right. 'The same gathering, we used for the prep on fight day for the AJ fight,' Charles added, referencing Dubois's stoppage of Anthony Joshua at Wembley in September. 'A lot was made of the ring walk when Daniel walked out in Wembley [to face Joshua], 96,000 people, and the energy... he was fired up. 'That gathering at the home, the same home, was taken to the dressing room. Some of Daniel's friends and his father's friends were in the dressing room for the AJ fight. That energy is what gave birth to the energy that everybody witnessed in the ring walk, and we were victorious on that occasion.' Although Charles was not present at the gathering on Saturday, he said: 'Correct, [we tried to replicate the last gathering]. I would, I think you would; if it works for you the first time, it's highly likely you're going to replicate that. There might have been more people, granted, for this second gathering – to get more energy. 'That would be the only thing; I'm a logical man, the only logical sense why there was more people is to increase the volume, because the AJ fight was big, [but] this even trumps it. That's what I do: try to understand. It may appear madness to a lot of people, but it's the same method that got us a victory [...] That's my take on it. 'I can't sit here and tell you that he knew every single person there. He comes from a very large family – cousins and brothers and... I know most of those people, they're his people. I was not there, I chose not to go. My duty on the training team is to make sure... This is Wembley we're talking about here; we had to go to the dressing room and make sure everything is intact for the fighter to arrive, so there's no confusion.' It was also noted by some in the sport that Dubois arrived 90 minutes before his ring walk on Saturday, giving him what has been deemed a relatively short window to get ready. Charles acknowledged the arrival time but played it down, saying: 'Ninety minutes before, which you can play a full game of football in.' He added that Dubois arrived at Wembley two hours before his fight with Joshua in September. 'It's something we need to look into internally, it's not something I'm sitting here and trying to justify,' Charles said of Saturday's pre-fight events in general. Dubois's loss to Usyk was his second to the Ukrainian, who stopped the Briton in Poland in 2023. On that occasion, Usyk also dropped Dubois twice, but only after climbing off the canvas following a low blow. Dubois's team appealed the result at the time, claiming that the strike had in fact been a legal body shot, but the appeal failed.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
LIVE! Usyk Vs. Dubois 2 Highlights, Streaming Updates TODAY
WBA (Super), WBO and WBC champion, Oleksandr Usyk, will face IBF Heavyweight titleholder, Daniel Dubois, for a second time later TODAY (Sat., July 19, 2025) LIVE on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Wembley Stadium in London, England (order PPV HERE). Usyk initially defeated Dubois in Aug. 2023, knocking out 'Dynamite' in the ninth round in Poland (see it again here), keeping his undefeated record intact (23-0), which includes 14 knockouts. Now, 'The Cat' is out to go 2-0 on Dubois, just like he did against Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. Many readers check in before, during and after the fights to share their thoughts on all of the action, which will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET streaming on YouTube, before the PPV main card starts at 2 p.m. ET on DAZN PPV. Feel free to leave a comment (or several) about the bouts and chat with all the other Maniacs during the show — it's always a lot of fun! USYK VS DUBOIS 2 QUICK RESULTS Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel DuboisLawrence Okolie vs. Kevin LerenaDaniel Lapin vs. Lewis EdmondsonVladyslav Sirenko vs. Solomon DacresLasha Guruli vs. James FrancisAadam Hamed vs. Ezequiel Gregores For complete 'Usyk vs. Dubois 2' results, coverage and highlights click HERE. More from Miocic Responds To Pressure From White And Cormier White On 'Possibly' Stripping Miocic UFC 249 Embedded: Rousey Nearly Knocked Out Cruz? Midnight Mania! Sterling Vs. Sandhagen Possible June 6 Headliner UFC 249 Odds, Under Dogs And Best Bets! Khabib Plans July Return, Vows To 'Smash Them All' Video! Jacare Breaks Social Distancing Rules Prior To UFC 249 Removal
