Daniel Dubois: Oleksandr Usyk has been a great champion, but everything with a beginning has an end
Daniel Dubois says Oleksandr Usyk has ‘been a great champion, but everything must end’, while his trainer adds he is ‘destined to become unified world champion.’
The Londoner will challenge Usyk for the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles on August 26, in Wrocław, Poland.
Dubois will be making his first return to the ring since his third-round stoppage win over Kevin Lerena in December, a fight in which he hit the canvas three times in the first round and suffered a knee injury.
“First off, the knee is fine. That’s all cleared up now, I’m in training camp, I’m running, everything’s going well. I’m grateful for this opportunity and I’m ready to take it with both hands, “Dubois said.
“This has been a long time coming and I’m ready to take it on. Usyk has been a great champion, but everything with a beginning has an end. I’m ready.”
Dubois is now working with Don Charles, after splitting with Shane McGuigan and his new trainer is sure of victory in August.
“It’s been documented that myself and Daniel have only just started to work together. But when faith brings you together, then that’s stronger than anything one can imagine,” he said.
“It was faith that brought us together and he is destined, I repeat, he is destined to become a unified world champion. That’s why we’re here.”
Dubois will have his first world title fight against Usyk in August
It’s been a year since Usyk successfully defended his titles against Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia.
“I want to thank the guys who are defending Ukraine now, because only for the reason they are doing this, we have the opportunity to defend our titles, to have our fights outside of Ukraine, and to bring glory to our country and to the flag of our country,” he said.
“I had become the WBO cruiserweight champion here [in Poland]. Together here with Krzysztof Głowacki, we beat each other for a little bit. For the next seven years, I have collected several belts and now, I’m back in Poland here to defend them.”
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Although Dubois will head into the fight as a significant underdog, Usyk’s manager told the media at the first pre-fight press conference on Monday that they were not taking the Brit lightly.
“We’re not overlooking Daniel Dubois, don’t think we think it’s going to be a walk in the park. We know he’s big, he’s strong, he can punch, and we are preparing 100% for it,” Klimas said.
“We have a future to unify titles. This fight is going to bring us to one of the biggest fights in the history of boxing. But we’re not dominating. All we see is Daniel Dubois. We eat breakfast, we think about Daniel Dubois. We go to bed, we think about Daniel Dubois. Everything is just about him. August 26 my man [Usyk] is going to show them.”
