Boxing’s heavyweight division has always been the sport's bread and butter. Recently, it has been stagnant due to the best, mainly Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, and Anthony Joshua, not fighting one another. One fighter that's looking to change things up is 25-year-old Daniel Dubois.
Dubois will have a major step up in competition as he fights for world gold for the first time, facing Oleksandr Usyk for the WBA, IBF, WBO, and Ring Magazine heavyweight titles on August 26. The fight takes place at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland, during the week of Ukrainian Independence Day. The 12-round bout, plus undercard action, will air on ESPN+ in the U.S. and on TNT Sports Box Office in the U.K.
Per Bet MGM, Usyk is the -1000 favorite, while Dubois is the +600 underdog. However, the challenger prefers when the odds are stacked against him.
“It’s not pressure for me, you know, this fight, it’s no pressure," Dubois told former two-weight world champion Carl Frampton in an interview for TNT Sports. "I’ve got to go in there and I’ve got to do a job on him. The bookies and all that, it is what it is. He’s the favourite, we all know that already, so there’s no pressure for me."
MORE: Sign up to watch Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois, exclusively on ESPN+
The Sporting News looks into the career of Dubois, a man ready to take over the heavyweight division.
Who is Daniel Dubois?
Born in Greenwich, Dubois had a successful amateur career, winning two junior ABA titles and gold at the European Youth championships. Despite those accolades, he decided to forgo a run in the Olympics and turned pro in 2017.
Joining Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, Dubois won the English heavyweight title in 2018, his eighth pro bout, against Tom Little. In 2019, he beat Nathan Gorman for the British heavyweight title and Ebenezer Tetteh for the Commonwealth heavyweight belt.
In his first real test, Dubois faced Joe Joyce in 2020, with the European crown also at stake. He lost in the 10th round after Joyce took a knee due to severe eye damage and was counted out. It was later revealed that he'd sustained a broken left orbital bone.
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Going back to the drawing board, Dubois needed to prove he could handle such a loss.
After recovering with wins over Bogdan Dinu and Joe Cusumano, Dubois stopped Trevor Bryan to win the WBA (regular) heavyweight title in June 2022. The Englishman's last bout was a TKO triumph over Kevin Lerena in December, which secured this shot at Usyk.
With 19 wins, Dubois has won 18 of them via knockout.
