IBF champion confident of victory over Ukrainian
Daniel Dubois. Photo – Getty Images
IBF world champion Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) said he intends to have a rematch with the holder of the WBC, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) in July.
“Definitely July, big fight in July against Usyk. That's what I want.”
“There are negotiations going on behind the scenes, two teams going back and forth. I'm just doing my job as a fighter and staying prepared so that when the call comes, whoever the next opponent is, I'm going to raise hell.”
“The Usyk fight at Wembley will be like the AJ fight but on a much bigger scale, the biggest fight in the world. That's the fight I'm really excited about and it's also a rematch. The Usyk fight for the undisputed title will go down in history.”
“I'll be the one to stop him, I can just see it. I'll be the first one to beat him. There'll be news about the fight soon.”
Read also: Warren: Usyk should make his choice very quickly. Our preference is a fight for four titles with Dubois
On February 22, the 38-year-old Ukrainian attended a boxing event in Riyadh, where he personally watched the victory of interim WBO champion Joseph Parker over Martin Bakole. After the fight, Usyk confirmed his desire to have his next fight against IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois and become the absolute champion again. This fight could tentatively take place in July-August 2025.
At the same time, the WBO officially determined that Usyk will defend his championship belt. The Ukrainian's opponent should be Parker. The New Zealander has already challenged Alexander to a fight in his traditional style.
Read also: Parker's trainer: The main thing for us is the fight with Usyk. If not, then we will fight for the vacant title
Earlier, the parties were given 30 days to negotiate – if the deal is not agreed upon, the WBO will hold a promoter bid for the event. If Alexander refuses the mandatory defense, the organization reserves the right to strip Alexander of the championship belt and make it vacant.
The Ukrainian champion is considering options on how not to lose the WBO belt. The first option is a fee for Parker: the New Zealander agrees to give up his turn and goes into “waiting mode”, and only then fights the winner of the confrontation between Alexander and Daniel. However, there is another outcome: Usyk's team writes an official request to the WBO to postpone the fight.
Dubois was supposed to fight Parker in February, but the Briton was unable to enter the ring due to illness. Later, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) decided to appoint Dubois a mandatory fight against compatriot Dereck Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs), the second number in the organization's rating. This fight will be officially confirmed on April 22, and the deadline for it to take place is June 21.
At the same time, Dubois' potential unification fight against WBO/WBC/WBA/IBO heavyweight title holder Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) will take precedence over the mandatory.