‘He is fighting for his country’: Daniel Dubois tips Usyk to defeat Fury again
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Daniel Dubois, the IBF world heavyweight champion, believes that Oleksandr Usyk will again defeat Tyson Fury in Riyadh on Saturday night. “Something in my heart tells me Usyk will pull it off again,” Dubois said only hours after landing in the city. “As a fellow Brit I want Tyson to win, because of everything he has done in the game. You have to respect that. But something is telling me that Usyk is going to do it again. Usyk just has luck on his side and he has skills. He has the backing of his people and is fighting for his country.”.
![[Oleksandr Usyk warms up in Riyadh before his rematch with Tyson Fury.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/05dc95fbc570f66fe82ca396eee0f09dd187a89d/0_295_5428_3257/master/5428.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Usyk beat Dubois in August 2023 when he stopped his young British challenger in the ninth round of a bruising contest. But he was hurt by Dubois in round five and slumped to the canvas after a punch on the beltline was ruled as a low blow. Usyk was given four minutes to recover before, drawing on his vast experience and reserves of will, he eventually battered Dubois into submission.
Usyk became the undisputed world heavyweight champion in May, when he beat Fury on a split decision, and he was unfortunate to have the IBF belt stripped from him just weeks later because he refused to meet the sanctioning body’s mandatory challenger. The Ukrainian had already signed a contract to meet Fury for a second time and Dubois was named as the IBF’s new champion without winning the title in the ring.
But Dubois’ life changed forever in September when, in his first defence, he stunned boxing by clinically knocking out Anthony Joshua in the fifth round at Wembley Stadium. “I will always respect AJ for giving me the opportunity and I am glad I took it,” a beaming Dubois said. “That night I couldn’t stop watching the fight back, no sleep, just pure adrenaline.”.
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