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Don Charles, the head trainer for heavyweight contender Daniel Dubois, believes his boxer has the necessary recipe to overcome the upcoming task of WBO, IBO, WBA, IBF world champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Dubois, the mandatory challenger, will face Uysk this coming Saturday night in Poland.
Usyk is riding high in the heavyweight division after back to back decision wins over British superstar Anthony Joshua. And he also handed a decision loss to one of Charles’ former fighters, Derek Chisora.
Charles admits that Dubois cannot allow Usyk to find a rhythm, he needs to apply immediate pressure and let his hands go.
‘I’m going to be arrogant,” Charles said to The Daily Mail. ‘If Daniel Dubois is hitting him the way we envisage, Usyk will not survive it. Trust me on this, I’ve trained Anthony Joshua – it’s not publicly known. I worked with AJ before the Olympics and he hits hard. Joshua is a phenomenal puncher, but Dubois’ power is unmeasurable. [The game plan] is no secret. [Dubois] needs to jump on Usyk’s arse.
‘If the Daniel Dubois that I’ve trained for the last 16 weeks in successful in the first five or six rounds, Usyk will not be in a good state because Dubois hits differently.’
Usyk did have a lot of trouble with Chisora’s come-forward style. He applied a lot of pressure throughout the fight, which many observers felt Joshua had failed to do.
“Quite simply, you have to pressure Usyk – similarly to how Derek did,” Charles said. “You don’t box Usyk, you have to dog it out with him. Once you get into that zone, you have to commit. In football, when you get a skilful footballer, you don’t give him space. You chop him down. You mark him, you barge him, you foul him. Make him uncomfortable. Usyk is a skilful player. You can’t give him room to do his thing. Take him out of that zone and break him down.
“Joshua was very apprehensive. He had the chance and didn’t close the show. He didn’t want to gas and didn’t trust his defense. Daniel Dubois gets him in that position – he would be doomed. I’ve seen what he does. His knockout rate suggests that. When he smells blood, he goes in for it.
“We’ve got to track Usyk. Don’t let him escape. Make the ring smaller, don’t follow him around. If he goes one way, cut him off. Keep him in one half of the ring and trap him. Daniel has the energy to punch and punch and punch. I believe we’ve got the perfect game plan to halt this guy because the minute Daniel corners him, the fight is over.”