Shane McGuigan, the man who was recently coaching Daniel Dubois, has said he would have advised the 25-year-old not to take the fight with Oleksandr Usyk if it was up to him.
Many people have said the jump up from where Dubois had been fighting to world level was too great.
Aside from the fight against the more accomplished Joe Joyce – which he lost – he had been fighting fringe-level contenders before stepping in with generational great Usyk. Other than the controversial low-blow moment, Dubois was never really on top in the fight.
Speaking to Boxing King Media, McGuigan said he would have changed ‘a lot’ about how the bout was approached, but ultimately felt taking it wasn’t right in the first place.
“[I would have changed] a lot. I would have forced a smaller ring. I’d have been on the referee a lot more. If I was managing Daniel I would never really have wanted that fight for him. He’s only 25 years of age. “
McGuigan then explained why he thinks the fight was made.
“That was a fight people have wanted him to take and were hoping and wishing he would win it with a shot so they can go and make a load of money with [a fight with Tyson] Fury because they can control Daniel and they can’t control Usyk so all along we know where the focus was.”
McGuigan then cited the knee surgery Dubois had following his up-and-down win over Kevin Lerena and the issues that come with that.
“You’ve got to look at the person. He got dropped a few times, pulled that [Lerena] fight out of the bag and showed lots of metal to get out of that first round and overturn it but your confidence is down. You’ve got a new knee. It was never in his favour going out to Poland in front of all those fans. It just wasn’t the right move. They gambled to be great and it didn’t pay off.”