Daniel Dubois has viciously shoved heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk during their first face-off ahead of their blockbuster rematch.
On Sunday evening, it was announced that the pair would go head-to-head at Wembley Stadium, London, on July 29 with all four world titles on the line in what promises to be a historic night of action.
The British star was famously stopped by the Ukrainian two years ago in a controversial dust-up in which ‘Triple D’ was convinced he dropped Usyk. However, his shot was deemed as a low blow, much to the frustration of Dubois. The 27-year-old is confident he can exact his revenge in the rematch and it seems as if there’s a bit of bad blood following their physical altercation on Monday morning.
Both men went nose-to-nose earlier today for what looked like a relatively routine face-off. The pair stood at the halfway line at the iconic football stadium in the nation’s capital before tensions boiled over. After a few seconds of staring each other down, Dubois shocked many by shoving his long-time rival, causing Usyk to take a few steps back.
The Ukrainian was unsurprisingly left agitated by Dubois’ shove and threatened to react. Without throwing anything, the 38-year-old leaned slightly forward – with Dubois appearing to just slightly flinch as security quickly intervened before the two teams could get involved.
After rematch was confirmed, the Ukrainian said: “I’m grateful to God for the opportunity to once again fight for the undisputed championship. Thank you, Daniel, for taking care of my IBF belt – now I want it back.” As for Dubois, the Brit said: “This is the fight I wanted and demanded and now I get my chance for revenge against Oleksandr Usyk,” said Dubois. “I should have won the first fight and was denied by the judgement of the referee, so I will make no mistake this time around in front of my people at the national stadium in my home city.
“I am a superior and more dangerous fighter now and Usyk will find this out for himself on July 19. I would like to thank my promoter Frank for making this happen for me and I intend to repay him by becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.”
Dubois became a world champion when he was upgraded from interim champion last summer, and defended his world title with a fifth-round knockout of Anthony Joshua last September. There were talks of an immediate rematch, but it was deemed ‘AJ’ was not fit after picking up a few minor injuries from the first encounter.
‘Triple D’ was due to defend his title earlier this year against Joseph Parker, but was forced to pull of the fight at two days’ notice. Rather than rearranging that fight, Dubois will instead take on Usyk for the undisputed title. The Ukrainian hasn’t fought since defeating Tyson Fury for a second time back in December.
Back in February, Usyk revealed he has just two more fights left before retiring. His comments came before Dubois was scheduled to take on Parker in Riyadh. In an interview with Sky Sports, Usyk – an undisputed champion at both heavyweight and cruiserweight – said: “I will fight who will win, Joseph Parker, Daniel Dubois, no problem. I think two years, one and a half [left in boxing]. I feel great myself. I feel I have two fights to prepare [for], not more. Just two.”
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