KING-SIZED underdog Daniel Dubois has the chance to become only the second Brit in a century to become undisputed heavyweight champion at home at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

The problem is, he must find a way to defeat a genuine modern-day great in order to equal Lennox Lewis’ achievement.

‘Dynamite’ has experienced greatness once before; it ended abruptly and conclusively inside nine rounds, leaving him on one knee cast in the shadow of boxing’s current heavyweight kingpin.

Oleksandr Usyk had already wiped the floor with popular British world champions Tony Bellew and Anthony Joshua before he met with Dubois, and he’s retired Tyson Fury in the time since.

Unbeaten in 23 professional fights, the London Olympics heavyweight gold medallist is a two-weight undisputed world champion and one of the most acclaimed prizefighters on the planet.

Two years ago, in Southwestern Poland, in front of nearly 25,000 travelling Ukrainians, Dubois challenged Usyk for all the heavyweight riches.

The fight wasn’t close.

But a body shot from Dubois slipped under the beltline in round five and forced Usyk to collapse onto the seat of his pants.

Referee Luis Pabon immediately ruled it as low, but promoter Frank Warren and Team Dubois maintain the shot was no foul and Usyk used it as an excuse to recover.

The Ukrainian icon eventually got back to his feet and closed the show around 12 fighting minutes later.

 

So, what can Dubois implement this time around to have any hope of reversing the outcome of 2023?

Well, for a start, he’s in a much richer vein of form right now.

Dubois bounced back from a domestic stoppage title loss to Joe Joyce with a handful of B-level heavyweights in the run up to the first fight.

Over the last two years, he’s taken out New York brute Jarrell Miller, top contender Filip Hrgovic, and, last time out, obliterated Joshua in a passing of the torch performance in this very ring.

Dubois, then only 25, struggled in the environment in Poland; he lacked confidence, was combination shot shy, and failed to capitalise on the controversial moment that left Usyk momentarily disabled.

Third man in the ring, Pabon, also gave Dubois a hard time, affording Usyk opportunities during the fight to shake off legitimate body shots, impacting Dubois’ flow and focus.

The Londoner is also bigger, stronger, and younger than Usyk. But whilst he’s also considerably more experienced than he was two years ago, it’s impossible to have levelled up to where Usyk is operating.

The 38-year-old is already being debated as one of the sport’s greatest ever champions, and he’s not even retired yet.

His footwork is suffocating, his hand speed, which he brought up from cruiserweight, blurring and showing no signs of decreasing, whilst his ring IQ is quite simply unmatched.

Usyk’s southpaw jab dominated their first fight; Dubois has to get his head off the centre line and gamble with sustained combination counters.

Perhaps the biggest factor is that Dubois has to hope Usyk has aged considerably after consecutive 12 rounders with Fury.

After all, no man, however great, can fight and win forever.

If Dubois can work unabated to Usyk’s body, hurt him and slow him down, then he has a real chance to flip the scorecards with a stoppage deep in the second half of the fight.

But, more realistically, Usyk – roused by the low-blow hysteria of the first bout – is more than capable of playing with his prey before stopping Dubois decisively and definitively once again.

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