Usyk, Dubois to meet in rematch for undisputed heavyweight title
All four belts on the line on July 19 at London's Wembley Stadium
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The rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois is set and will have greater stakes than their first fight.
They will meet for the undisputed heavyweight championship on July 19 (DAZN PPV) at Wembley Stadium in London, Dubois’ hometown, Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions announced on Sunday, making official a fight that has been expected for weeks.
Usyk, the lineal champion, will also defend the WBC, WBO and WBA titles and attempt to regain the IBF belt Dubois now holds while Dubois will attempt to become the first Brit to hold the undisputed heavyweight crown since Lennox Lewis unified the division during the three-belt era by outpointing Evander Holyfield in their rematch in 1999.
“I’m grateful to God for the opportunity to once again fight for the undisputed championship,” Usyk said in a statement. “Thank you, Daniel, for taking care of my IBF belt. Now I want it back.”
Usyk and Dubois will come face to face at the kickoff news conference on Tuesday at Wembley Stadium. The fight will be the first undisputed heavyweight title fight on British soil.
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“I am thrilled to deliver this historic undisputed occasion for Daniel at Wembley Stadium,” Warren said. “It will be an honor to promote a sporting event of this magnitude and a privilege to bring over a champion of the stature of Oleksandr.”
In August 2023, Usyk and Dubois met for the first time in a WBA mandatory bout with Usyk defending the WBO, IBF and WBA “super” title against WBA “regular” titlist Dubois in Wroclaw, Poland.
Usyk thoroughly dominated and was way ahead on all three scorecards when he dropped Dubois with a jab in the ninth round and he quit on his knee while taking the 10-count.
Dubois and his team bitterly complained that a fifth-round body shot that dropped Usyk and badly hurt him was legal but it was not. It was a low blow and veteran championship referee Luis Pabon called it as such and gave Usyk time to recover.
However poorly Dubois performed in that one-sided drubbing, he has since won three fights in a row by stoppage in impressive fashion against top contenders to earn a rematch.
Dubois took down unbeaten Jarrell Miller in the 10th round in December 2023; stopped the favored and unbeaten Filip Hrgovic in the eighth-round on cuts to win the vacant IBF interim title in June 2024; and then, having been elevated to full titlist, obliterated former two-time unified titlist and countryman Anthony Joshua in the fifth round of his first defense in a major upset this past September at Wembley Stadium.
“This is the fight I wanted and demanded and now I get my chance for revenge against Oleksandr Usyk,” Dubois said. “I should have won the first fight and was denied by the judgment 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 (22-2, 21 KOs), 27, was scheduled to make his second defense against Joseph Parker on Feb. 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the Artur Beterbiev-Dmitry Bivol II card but he became ill during fight week and withdrew, leaving Parker to knock out last-minute replacement Martin Bakole in the second round as he retained the WBO interim belt and maintained his status as one of Usyk’s mandatory challengers.
Usyk followed his win over Dubois by outpointing Tyson Fury in the 2024 fight of the year to win the lineal and WBC titles and become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era and first in the division since Lewis 25 years earlier.
But Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs), 38, a southpaw, was forced to vacate the IBF belt because he was contractually obligated to an immediate rematch with Fury, who he outpointed again in December. When Usyk vacated the IBF title, Dubois was elevated, so now Usyk will seek to regain the belt that he was forced to give up and never lost in the ring.
Usyk, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist for Ukraine and also the former undisputed cruiserweight champion, can become the first-ever three-time undisputed champion of the four-belt era.
He will also once again show why he is boxing’s ultimate road warrior by fighting in Dubois’ hometown. The rematch with Dubois will be Usyk’s 13th world title bout and not only has he never had any of his title fights in Ukraine, he will have fought in his opponent’s hometown or country in eight of them.
All four belts will be at stake in Usyk-Dubois II. The WBC and WBA mandatories are not due yet. The IBF will sanction the bout because even though it ordered Dubois’ mandatory defense against Derek Chisora when it became due last Tuesday, IBF rules allow for a unification fight to take precedence over a mandatory as long as it is set before a purse bid for the mandatory bout is scheduled.
Regarding the WBO title, Gustavo Olivieri, the president of the organization, announced that even though Parker was mandated to be Usyk’s next opponent, he has been granted an exception.
“Having carefully considered the arguments presented by all relevant parties regarding the WBO mandatory, it is the WBO’s position that the best interests of boxing, and most importantly the fighters themselves, are best served by allowing the unification bout to proceed prior to discharging the mandatory obligation,” Olivieri said in a statement on Sunday. “In doing so, the division will once again crown an undisputed champion, elevating the sport and its athletes to the highest standard. It is further clarified that Joseph Parker’s mandatory status is upheld, and he remains next in the rotation system following the unification.”
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Dubois gonna get his revenge versus "Neymar" Usyk. You see that exact same belt line punch in damn near every fight. Minus the Usyk histrionics. What is it about body work that seems to consistently affect Eastern Euro Boxers?
The fight nobody wants to see except for their accountants