Usyk set to defend heavyweight title against Dubois
World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk will get to defend his WBO, WBA, and IBF titles against British boxer Daniel Dubois at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland, on August 26 following the official announcement on Thursday.
Usyk, who took the titles off Anthony Joshua in London in September 2021 and won the rematch in Saudi Arabia, will be battling in his first title defense bout since August 2022.
Dubois will be the Ukrainian nightmare’s second title defense challenger after his scheduled fight with WBC champion Tyson Fury at Wembley back in April failed to happen due to contractual disagreements.
The 25-year-old has won 19 of his 20 fights since turning professional in 2017, 18 of them by knockout, with one defeat coming from fellow British heavyweight Joe Joyce in 2020.
Usyk (20-0-0) will return to the same arena where he won the WBO world cruiserweight title, beating Krzysztof Glowacki back in 2015.
“I am very glad that we have the opportunity to fight in Poland, where I won my first world title seven years ago,” Usyk said.
“I want to thank the Polish people who are helping Ukraine so much. Hundreds of thousands of my compatriots have been hosted by this wonderful country.
“Therefore, I hope that my fight will become one more opportunity for Ukrainians and people of Poland to unite and strengthen our friendship.”
However, the defiant Dubois (20-19-1) has promised to “vow” the boxing world as he prepares for arguably his biggest ever fight against the unbeaten Usyk.
“I’m looking forward to challenging Oleksandr Usyk and am confident that I will be returning to the UK with the belts,” the younger fighter said.
“He is a great fighter and I do respect him, but it’s my time now. I’m going to shock the world and show people how good Daniel Dubois really is.”
Dubois became Usyk’s mandatory challenger back in June 2022 after beating American Trevor Bryan by knockout to win the WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight title.
