Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois preview and prediction for heavyweight title fight

Dubois is viewed by many experts as one of the brightest young talents in the division and he has been tipped for success due to his explosive punch power.

The 6ft5 fighter has enjoyed a rapid ascend to prominence in the heavyweight rankings since his professional debut in 2017 and he is hoping to join the likes of Anthony Joshua,Tyson Fury, David Haye and Lennox Lewis in the list of British heavyweight champions.

The upcoming bout is likely to attract wide scale interest from boxing fans around the world, but is Dubois capable of staging an upset against the reigning champion?

Here is our prediction ahead of the highly anticipated heavyweight showdown.

Who has the better boxing record?

When comparing the two fighters it is first important to look at their respective records in the boxing ring.

Daniel Dubois

Daniel Dubois took up boxing at the age of nine and trained at the Peacock Gym in Canning Town. He had a total of 75 amateur bouts, winning 69 and losing six. In this period he won English schoolboy titles, two Junior ABAs and represented his country at amateur level.

Dubois turned professional when he was 19 years old in 2017 rather than waiting for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

He enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence in professional boxing and won all of his first 15 fights, with 14 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

Dubois suffered his first professional defeat in 2020 against Olympic medalist Joe Joyce. The turning point of the fight was a second round shot to the eye of Dubois which gradually affected his vision and the fight was stopped in the 10th round.

Dubois has since responded to the setback with four consecutive knockouts, although he was knocked down on three occasions in the first round during his fight with Kevin Lerena in December last year.

Oleksandr Usyk

Oleksandr Usyk is widely regarded as one of the greatest Ukrainian fighters of all-time alongside Wladimir Klitchsko, Vitali Klitchsko and Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Usyk is often nicknamed The Cat due to his agility and slickness in the ring. He enjoyed an extensive amateur career which recorded 335 wins and 15 defeats.

In this period he lifted gold medals in the Olympic Games, World Championships and the European Championships. He defeated the likes of Joe Joyce, Junior Fa and Artur Beterbiev before turning professional.

Usyk made his pro debut when he was 26 years old and he initially competed at cruiserweight level.  The Ukrainian quickly established himself as the dominant force in the division by becoming the undisputed champion with notable victories over Michael Hunter, Murat Gassiev and Tony Bellew.

The Ukrainian boxer made the jump up to heavyweight level in 2019 and many experts questioned whether Usyk would be able to cope with the physicality of fighting at a higher weight level.

Despite this criticism Usyk wrote his name into history by becoming the world heavyweight champion with back to back victories over Anthony Joshua. 

In doing so he became just the third cruiserweight to achieve the feat after Evander Holyfield and David Haye.

Who is the bookmakers favourite?

Oleksandr Usyk is the clear favourite to maintain his unbeaten record against challenger Daniel Dubois.

Usyk is yet to lose in his professional career and SkyBet are offering odds of just 1/12 for the Ukrainian to defend his titles.

Dubois is priced at 4/9 to stage an upset in Poland.

Verdict - Oleksandr Usyk to win by unanimous decision

Oleksandr Usyk has proven himself as one of the best technical fighters of the modern era and he has recorded impressive victories over the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tony Bellew and Murat Gassiev.

Usyk's southpaw style and exceptional speed nullified the threat of Joshua over the course of two consecutive fights and it is likely to be a struggle for Dubois to get a strong rhythm in the fight.

Dubois' best hope of victory will be to aim for knockout in the fight rather than trying to beat the Ukrainian on points. 

Dubois is blessed with exceptional punch power and physicality and he will need to make this fight as scrappy as possible to cause Uysk problems.

The best blueprint for Dubois to beat Usyk was arguably set out by Derek Chisora in an earlier bout in October 2020. 

On that occasion Chisora started on the front foot by being aggressive and ultimately won a number of the opening rounds.

However, it is hard to sustain this pressure over the course of 12 rounds and Chisora came unstuck in the later rounds due to the fast hand speed of Usyk who recorded a technical knockout.

Ultimately it is hard to see an upset in this fight due to Usyk’s vast experience at the elite level.

Dubois has shown signs of vulnerability in his recent fights. The Brit sustained an ACL injury during his last bout against Kevin Lerena which resulted in him being knocked to the floor three times in the opening round. 

Despite prevailing from that contest it remains to be seen whether Dubois has fully recovered from that injury and he also faces the challenge of going away from home to Poland where the majority of the crowd will most likely be supporting Usyk.