In February, Daniel Dubois had to pull out of the fight against Joseph Parker in which he put the International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight title on the line because he fell ill. All this happened in the week of the fight and Martin Bakole came in to replace the heavyweight champion that night. The plan was for the winner to face Oleksandr Usyk afterwards, with all four belts on the line again.
According to journalist Mike Coppinger in ringmagazine.com, this plan for a new fight for the undisputed championship is still going ahead, although Parker is obviously no longer part of the equation. In fact, Usyk and Dubois are already close to reaching an agreement to contest a rematch, which would take place on July 12 at Wembley Stadium.
It would be the second time the two fighters have faced each other, as they already met in August 2023 in Poland, a fight in which ‘The Cat’ defeated ‘Dynamite’ Dubois by KO in the ninth round. However, that bout was marked by a low blow that the Englishman threw in the fifth round and that ‘broke’ Usyk completely. The referee saw it clearly and gave the Ukrainian five minutes to recover, although the controversy was served. The fact is that the champion was always better than the challenger in that fight, but many spectators saw a legal blow in that action and therefore a KO in its own right.
Now the situation has changed. Dubois has continued to grow and earn the status of heavyweight champion and star. He knocked out Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua. There is little more to say. He is a boxer who already overcame a bad moment, after his fight with Joe Joyce in which he almost lost an eye. He has done it again and a Usyk vs. Dubois 2 is much more interesting now than in its first edition.
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