This is Rummy’s Corner.
You know Quaismodo predicted all of this.
Here we are, it is already July 2023, and to date we have not had a single heavyweight
championship fight all year!
The entire division has seemingly been on hold due to rumors of Saudi gold at the end
of the rainbow.
In fact, there has only been one truly significant heavyweight match-up this year, and that one
happened back in April when Zhang ‘Big Bang’ Zhilei scored an upset victory against the
highly regarded Joe Joyce.
With that victory, Zhang became the WBO mandatory challenger when he earned the WBO interim
belt from The Juggernaut, and those two are slated to have a rematch this September.
Last year we had 3 heavyweight championship contests.
The first happened in April when WBC champion Tyson Fury knocked out his mandatory challenger
Dillian Whyte.
Then last August, the unified IBF/WBO/WBA super duper heavyweight champion Oleksandr
Usyk defended his unified crown in a rematch against the man he beat to become champion,
Anthony Joshua.
Usyk won that one by 12 round split decision.
And most recently, last December, Tyson Fury made another defense of his WBC belt when
he scored a 10th round stoppage against Dereck Chisora, which was the third time Fury beat
Chisora, 8 years after the two last met.
On the undercard of Fury-Chisora III, the WBA “regular” champion Daniel 'Dynamite’
Dubois squared off against Kevin Lerena, and that one wound up being a wild encounter.
This one almost ended in absolute disaster for Dubois, who was dropped three times in
the opening round.
It was subsequently revealed that Dubois had suffered a tear to his ACL.
To his credit, Dubois rallied back to stop Lerena in round 3.
And here we are - the first heavyweight championship fight of 2023 will take place on August 26th
in Poland.
And Daniel Dubois is the man who will be challenging the unified heavyweight champion, Oleksandr
Usyk.
After the negotiations for an undisputed showdown between Fury and Usyk broke down earlier this
year, there was some debate about whether Dubois would be fully healed when it looked
like Usyk would be forced to next defend against his WBA mandatory, and it has been nearly
5 years since the WBA last enforced a mandatory - way back when AJ stopped Povetkin.
Around the time a would be match between Fury and Usyk fell apart, the WBA had elevated
Deontay Wilder to #1 in their ranking, a move presumably designed to allow Usyk to fulfill
his mandatory obligation against Wilder should Dubois not be fit to fight.
Wilder is still generally viewed as the #3 heavyweight in the world when looking at Ring,
TBRB, and the majority of the 4 alphabet bodies, and on paper that would have undoubtedly made
for a far more compelling match-up.
Instead, Dubois will challenge Usyk on August 26 in Wroclaw, Poland.
Now the two big things to get excited about for this match-up are:
This should theoretically be the last we ever see of the ridiculous WBA regular heavyweight
title.
We’re actually going to get at least ONE heavyweight championship fight in 2023.
And that is a good thing!
But the downside is, on paper at least, Usyk holds almost every tangible advantage, barring
youth.
Dubois is not going to outbox or outslick a talented smooth operator like Usyk.
And the idea that Dubois is going to be able to physically overpower a tactical master
who is known for having tremendous heart and durability, that seems very far-fetched.
Very few are giving Dubois a real chance going into this one, barring some freak occurrence,
and not without damn good reason.
Usyk is a proven warrior with an ample skill set and a superb ring IQ.
Dubois himself is largely unproven.
His big claim to fame is beating Trevor Bryan to win the secondary WBA belt.
Beyond that, it is difficult to understand how he became a mandatory challenger to begin
with.
Aside from beating Bryan, he is best known for having had some very good rounds against
the aforementioned Joe Joyce.
And Dubois did show some potential against Joyce, and at times he was using his faster
hands and good pop to land some mean leather on Joyce.
But at other times, despite being slower, Joyce was often boxing well and winning the
battle of jabs.
And ultimately, the durable Joyce inflicted a lot of damage which led to a stoppage win
in round 10, where Dubois suffered nerve damage and a broken orbital bone.
After losing that fight, somehow Dubois got to fight for the WBA interim title in his
very next fight, which led to his chance against Bryan, and yet - as of right now, Dubois’
conqueror Joyce is nowhere to be seen in the WBA rankings, and neither is HIS conqueror,
Big Bang Zhang.
The whole thing with the WBA is a real head scratcher.
So how does Dubois beat an elite pound for pound boxing master?
The simple answer, for me, is barring some freak occurrence, I don’t think he does.
But just to play devil’s advocate here, Dubois is 11 years younger, and since Usyk
is starting to get up there in age, and since Usyk has a style that relies on speed, athleticism,
reflexes, and timing - that could prove significant.
Maybe the youth advantage of Dubois might play a factor.
After all, while not necessarily his fault with the situation in Ukraine and the whole
COVID thing before that - Usyk hasn’t been especially active.
He had just 1 fight in 2019 against Chazz Witherspoon, he had just 1 fight in 2020 against
Dereck Chisora, and then he had just the 1 fight in 2021, but that was a big one, when
he beat AJ to win the unified heavyweight championship, and then he had just 1 fight
last year when he beat AJ in their rematch.
Then the whole thing with Fury broke down, and then all the Saudi rumors - and incidentally,
looks like Fury is supposed to be having a non-title fight against the MMA fighter Francis
Ngannou.
Oof madone!
Personally with this, and the upcoming Fury Netflix series, I think Fury is trying to
build up his profile, which is why I still remain mostly hopeful that we might get undisputed
at some point.
So the two things Dubois has theoretically going for him are youth and the fact that,
despite coming off the injury, he has been more active than Usyk since the start of 2019.
But I’m not even sure these are really advantages at all!
Usyk has been facing a far higher level of opposition, and Usyk is a total pro, who is
always extremely well prepared both mentally and physically.
We know that Dubois is not going to outbox Usyk, and hopefully Dubois isn’t foolish
enough to try and do what twice didn’t work for AJ.
That would suggest that Dubois needs to turn it into a scrappy affair, an absolutely ugly
fight, and while Dubois has shown some ability to fight on the inside, it isn’t really
his strong suit, and I don’t think he is as clever as Usyk on the inside anyway, even
if Dubois proves stronger inside, which is certainly not a given in my mind.
At the end of the day, barring a freak occurrence where Usyk suffers a bad injury or a cut or
something along those lines, I don’t think Usyk is suddenly going to get old overnight,
and even if he does get old overnight, I tend to believe there is still enough of a gap
in skill that Usyk will be able to control the rhythm against an unproved boxer like
Dubois.
And if some freak occurrence DOES happen in this fight, despite Usyk being older, Dubois
is the one who has shown to be more injury prone in that regard, and who knows if his
injury from last December has really healed to the point that he will not have any mobility
issues to go along with inherent ring rust and the pressure that comes with having his
first big opportunity to compete for a major world title under the big spotlight.
For my official prediction, I am taking Oleksandr Usyk, and I believe that he wins inside the
distance.
So I am taking Usyk by 8th round stoppage.
But as always, what the hell do I know?
I ain’t exactly Quasimodo over here.
And honestly, even though I do not give Dubois much of a chance in this one, freak occurrences
and big time upsets are part of what makes being a boxing fan enjoyable.
I am just happy that it looks as if we will at least get ONE heavyweight championship
fight this year.
Best of luck to both Usyk and Dubois, and may the best man win on that night!
So who do you think will win the upcoming heavyweight championship fight - Oleksandr
Usyk or Daniel Dubois?
Please share your thoughts in the comment section, and enjoy the fight everyone!
I hope it turns out to be a good one!
Thank you very much for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night.
This is Rummy’s Corner.
Nostradamus.
Quasimodo is the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Oh right.
Notre Damus.
Nostradamus and Notre Dame.
It’s two different things completely.