‘Young lion’ Daniel Dubois faces unbeaten Oleksandr Usyk in heavyweight title showdown at Wembley

LONDON (AP) – There are many reasons why Oleksandr Usyk should beat Daniel Dubois and leave Wembley Stadium as the undisputed world heavyweight champion on Saturday night.

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 Thursday. “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.

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.

On Friday, Dubois weighed-in at 243½ lb, just over 10 lb heavier than the first time they fought.

“I’m locked in. I’m focused. I can’t wait,” said Dubois, who is 5 lb lighter than his last fight.

Usyk is at the heaviest of his career at 227¼ pounds – up from 226 lb against Tyson Fury last December. Friday’s weight was just over 6 lb heavier than the first time he fought Dubois.

“For me, it’s a great opportunity for my people and my country,” the Ukrainian said Friday.

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 his debut in the division in October 2019 against Chazz Witherspoon of the United States.

Usyk 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 press 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 defense 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 she would have been “in a really bad mental place” had she not left.

Riz Khan, Daniel Dubois’ manager, praised the father.

“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.