Frank Warren picks Usyk-Dubois winner

Legendary promoter picks winner of upcoming heavyweight championship at Wembley Stadium

Left to right: Oleksandr Usyk, promoters Egis Klimas and Frank Warren, and Daniel Dubois (Queensberry Promotions)

Promoter Frank Warren has picked his charge Daniel Dubois to upset lineal heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk when the pair meet at Wembley Stadium later this month.

Warren, speaking on his promotion’s YouTube channel, said that he thought Dubois would win on 19 July, exclusively on DAZN PPV. The promoter also disparaged the idea that age was going to catch up with Usyk, 23-0 (14), on the night, saying that the Ukrainian fighter had little wear and tear on his body.

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On fight night, Usyk will be aged 38, while Dubois will be 27. The pair first met two years ago in Wroclaw, Poland, where Usyk won by ninth-round stoppage. Questioned on whether the passage of time would affect the champion, Warren said it was a possibility, but seemed to dismiss the idea of it happening overnight.

He said: “Things like that can happen. You know, there’s not a lot of miles on the clock with Usyk. Having said that, he knows that Daniel can win this fight. It’s not about his ability – [Daniel]’s got the ability. He’s got the power. He’s got the boxing ability. He’s got a fabulous jab. We know he can punch with both hands.”

Warren also said that he thought Dubois, 22-2 (21), had the power to hurt Usyk.

He said: “If he catches him, he’ll go. And if he doesn’t, I think he can outbox him. But what can happen, I’ve got no say in it. Nobody’s got any say in it. It stands to these two guys when that bells rings. The best will be the best.”

Looking across the rest of the heavyweight division, Warren said that a host of great fights would result from whatever the result will be.

He said: “Joe [Parker] is coming in for the fight. He’s the WBO mandatory. They want that fight to take place. Joe’s the interim champion, so the winner’s got to fight him. That, again, is a great fight. But you know what? On 19 July, we’re going to see history being made.”

The heavyweight division, said Warren, is going to experience a ‘levelling out’ as the various mandatories and interim titles are set to be sorted out one after the other. He said that it remained to be seen who the mandatories were going to be, whether someone would vacate their titles in order to go for ‘bigger’ fights.

“What’s going to happen in the meantime,” he said, “is that all these guys that we’ve been promoting and jostling around, they’re either interim champions or mandatories. All of them are working with Queensberry. So we know that whatever happens, we’re going to get great fights.”

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