Frank Warren, promoter for heavyweight contender Daniel Dubois, believes his boxer has the power to really damage WBO, IBF, WBA, IBO world champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Dubois will challenge Usyk for his four belts on August 26 in Poland.
“I’m confident because I believe in him,” Warren told Sky Sports. “Usyk is a very, very good fighter. He’s a great cruiserweight. He’s done everything that’s been asked of him. But I look at fights, I don’t just look at their last performance.”
Usyk is returning after back to back victories over British superstar Anthony Joshua.
Warren believes that Usyk, a former undisputed cruiserweight champion, has displayed issues in the heavyweight division when his opponents apply pressure and let their hands go.
“When he fought against Derek Chisora, there was nothing in that fight until Chisora ran out of gas towards the end when he wore him out. But there wasn’t anything in that fight early on,” Warren said.
“I look at [Usyk] against AJ for the first fight. AJ wasn’t at the races. He was a bit better in the second fight, but for me AJ’s not firing like he was anyway. He showed that in his last fight. He’s not the fighter he once was.”
Dubois has the WBA’s ‘regular’ title and managed to rebuild his career after suffering a TKO loss at the hands of Joe Joyce in 2020.
In his last fight, Dubois went down three times in the first round against Kevin Lerena. Dubois would rally to stop Lerena in the third. After the fight, Dubois would admit that he suffered a knee injury in the first – which led to the knockdowns. He underwent surgery and needed several months to recover from the injury.
“Daniel in his last fight, I don’t think he warmed up properly and he got caught on the top of the head. You’ve seen on numerous occasions the vulnerability when someone gets caught like that,” Warren said.
“He got caught, went over and, as he did, he tore his ligament, which is a fact. He’s had it operated on. He gritted his teeth and came through that. He took a count twice, didn’t get knocked down [again]. Took a count twice and then gritted his teeth and done what he had to do. That answered a lot of questions.”
Earlier this year, Dubois parted ways with trainer Shane McGuigan. He is now being trained by veteran coach Don Charles.
“I fancy him big time in the fight. He’s young, he’s strong, sometimes it’s your moment and I think it’s his moment. I know that if he catches Usyk, Usyk won’t know what’s hit him. Can he cope with that power?,” Warren said.