While most boxing eyes are on the upcoming Cinco de Mayo weekend that will feature Canelo Alvarez, Ryan Garcia, Naoya Inoue and more stars, many fans are itching to see Oleksandr Usyk get back in the ring. The Ukrainian has become a legend of the sport in recent years, with his magnum opus being taking the heavyweight crown from Tyson Fury, twice.
There’s practically nothing left for Usyk to prove. Now 38 years old, he has mentioned he only has a couple of bouts left before he hangs up the gloves. There have only been rumors about his potential next opponents, but we finally got concrete news on Tuesday. According to Mike Coppinger of Ring Magazine, Usyk’s rematch against Daniel Dubois is being “finalized“. It appears to be a sure thing.
Usyk already beat Dubois once, but it was a controversial fight
That likely won’t surprise anyone. Given that Usyk has beaten both Fury and Anthony Joshua twice already, it’s time for him to try to do the same with Dubois. Usyk knocked out Dubois in August of 2023, but the fight was marred by some controversy.
In order to truly cement his legacy, Usyk will be giving up home-field advantage when he takes on Dubois. Reports have the venue as Wembley Stadium in Dubois’ native country, and the fight could be coming quicker than expected. July 12 appears to be the tentative date.
Joseph Parker was really the only other boxer who made sense for Usyk. It’s very likely that Parker will be next up for Usyk if the Ukrainian defeats Dubois at Wembley. One name to watch is Agit Kabayel, who is now 26-0 and is coming off of a stunning knockout of Zhilei Zhang.
As for Fury and Joshua, it seems those two could be on a collision course. Joshua was a shell of his former self in his last fight, but he can still draw a big crowd, as can Fury.
Read the full article here
