{"id":250483,"date":"2025-07-09T10:19:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T10:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/250483\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T10:19:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T10:19:09","slug":"usyk-hints-at-final-dance-after-dubois-rematch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/250483\/","title":{"rendered":"Usyk hints at final dance, after Dubois rematch"},"content":{"rendered":"

There aren’t too many mountains left to climb for unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk<\/a>.
Usyk has twice beaten former champions Anthony Joshua<\/a> and Tyson Fury<\/a>, and is looking for history to repeat itself against IBF titleholder Daniel Dubois<\/a> during their July 19 rematch at England’s Wembley Stadium for the undisputed heavyweight crown.<\/p>\n

Usyk, a 2012 Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist and a former undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight king, turns 39 in January and is a 12-year professional with an extensive amateur career preceding his accomplishments across the two biggest divisions.<\/p>\n

It’s fair to wonder that retirement is around the corner. <\/p>\n

“[I am still boxing] because Jesus gives me the opportunity, and I take this,” Usyk told DAZN. “Now my goal is to become a three-time undisputed. Listen, I love boxing, training hard. I guess it’s my last two fights, with Dubois and next, I don’t know who. I’ll talk to you after this fight, it’s my life.”<\/p>\n

Ring champion Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) holds the WBA, WBC and WBO titles. The only reason Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) holds the IBF crown is because the unbeaten Ukrainian willingly vacated the strap last year a month after beating Fury in an immediate rematch May 19.<\/p>\n

That allowed interim champion Dubois to be elevated before his all-British duel with Joshua in September, a performance he passed with flying colors via fifth-round stoppage.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A third Fury fight suddenly became a possibility last week<\/a> for Usyk when “The Gypsy King” announced he’d come back from a short-lived retirement for a shot at “the rabbit” and The Ring’s No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter.<\/a><\/p>\n

Usyk labeled his first fight against the “greedy belly” Fury as the most difficult clash of his heavyweight campaign.<\/p>\n

Back to the task at hand, questions remain over Dubois’ mettle. When Usyk was asked if Dubois has a weakness in regard to quitting, he said: “A little bit, yes. Maybe he’s a younger guy, I don’t know. Daniel is a little bit afraid. I am too, but my afraid is different.”<\/p>\n

A fatigued Dubois was stopped by Usyk in August 2023 with a straight right hand, immediately taking a knee only to get up at the ten-count without contesting the stoppage.<\/p>\n

Many compared that to a similar situation that unfolded three years earlier in November 2020 when Dubois, ahead on two scorecards, took a knee and was stopped by Joe Joyce<\/a> having fought through a fractured left eye socket and nerve damage in their 12-round fight.
Dubois has been resilient since last facing Usyk, stopping previously-unbeaten contenders Jarrell Miller<\/a> and Filip Hrgovic<\/a> inside the distance before his career-best Joshua scalp.<\/p>\n

“I love my British opponents,” said Usyk. “I think Daniel is a good athlete, a good boxer, and has good skills. He has had great wins in his last three fights, is a great fighter. I think Daniel deserves [the rematch].”<\/p>\n

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There aren’t too many mountains left to climb for unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.Usyk has twice beaten former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4108],"tags":[1935,5061,5122,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-250483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-daniel-dubois","10":"tag-oleksandr-usyk","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114822772362566306","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}