OLEKSANDR USYK HAS RIGHT TO POKE FUN AS ANTHONY JOSHUA FORCED TO TAKE DANIEL DUBOIS RISK

The more I see and hear of Oleksandr Usyk, the more I like him. Not only is he a brilliant fighter, he is such a positive presence in our sport.

I loved his tongue-in cheek donation of the IBF belt that made the Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois bout possible at Wembley. He vacated to clear the way for the Tyson Fury rematch, of course. Nevertheless his phrasing revealed a cheeky side that I find myself appreciating more and more.

Usyk beat Joshua twice and Dubois, which gives him the right to poke a bit of fun. But underneath there is no malice. Besides, he has done us a favour because without the belt Joshua would not have taken the risk.

In the old days, September was the start of the boxing season. What a way to get the party started, a date loaded with jeopardy for both, since it could easily be the end for the loser.

It depends to a degree on the nature of the loss but it is certainly hard to see where Joshua goes should he register a fourth career reverse.

Dubois has fewer miles on the clock, but with two heavy defeats to Joe Joyce and to Usyk, he can’t afford another shellacking at the hands of Joshua and hope to get a world title crack.

As I argued here when the fight was first mooted, Joshua is the more complete fighter. He can box and bang. But he is vulnerable, as he showed against Andy Ruiz; badly hurt, dropped and would have been knocked out had the ref not stepped in.

Dubois has definitely improved. We can attest to that because much of his development happened markedly with us. He was behind to Filip Hrgovic this month but found a way. He is a still a little one dimensional. Explosive, but moves slowly.

And there is a question over Dubois because of the defeat to Usyk. Though he had Usyk in more trouble than either Joshua or Fury did, he couldn’t finish him.

When Usyk came back at him he could not cope, which evoked memories of his loss to Joyce. It might be different this time in front of a huge audience at Wembley, and this is a terrific opportunity to prove himself on the biggest stage, to register an important win when it matters.

Similarly, should Joshua impress, it would add weight to the idea that he is building real momentum to set up that illusive match with Fury or trilogy bout with Usyk.

So all to play for in front of a packed Wembley Stadium.

Follow Barry on Twitter at @ClonesCyclone @mcguigans_gym

2024-06-28T11:47:51Z dg43tfdfdgfd