A REMATCH between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois could take place at Wembley Stadium in London.
The two heavyweights first faced one another on August 26, 2023 at Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland. Usyk was the IBF, WBO and WBA world champion. Dubois, meanwhile, held the WBA’s Regular strap after beating Trevor Bryan which also made him the mandatory challenger for Usyk’s title.
Dubois hoped to legitimise himself as a world-class boxer against Usyk and complete a career rebuild after suffering the first loss of his career against Joe Joyce in 2020.
Usyk, however, was the superior boxer and proved it on the night using his footwork, movement and experience to leave Dubois with the frustrating task of pinning down the Ukrainian. The tale of the fight took a dramatic turn in round five when Dubois dropped Usyk with a powerful shot leaving the champion writhing in agony. The attempted body shot from the Brit was deemed a low blow by referee Luis Pabon. Usyk was given time to recover and then resumed moving through the gears putting his challenger down in the eighth under a flurry of shots before ending the fight one round later.
The Dubois team were furious at Pabon’s call and claimed the punch was legal and therefore a knockdown. Promoter Frank Warren believed his man had been robbed of victory. That defeat, however, sparked a change in fortune for Dubois who went on an impressive run racking up wins against Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic. Victory over the Croat earned him the IBF Interim strap but after Usyk vacated the IBF title, following his undisputed victory over Tyson Fury, Dubois was elevated to full champion status. The Londoner then successfully defended the title against Joshua at Wembley Stadium six months ago.
In the aftermath of Usyk’s rematch win against Fury last December, Dubois gatecrashed the proceedings demanding a rematch against the number one heavyweight.
Talks are now ongoing for a second undisputed heavyweight title fight. Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk told Sky Sports: “We are now working on this fight [Usyk vs Dubois 2], Wembley as one of the options.”
