British heavyweight veteran, Derek Chisora, believes that sparring sessions between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois in the past could prove to be a pivotal factor in their upcoming fight.
Oleksandr Usyk moved up from the cruiserweight division in 2019 after becoming the undisputed champion, his clear aim aim being repeating that feat at the sport’s most glamorous weight-class.
With his natural disadvantage in size, many expected that he may struggle to deal with the power of heavier and stronger opposition.
However, Usyk scored a knockout win over Chazz Witherspoon on his heavyweight debut, before outpointing Derek Chisora and twice defeating Anthony Joshua over the distance to become the WBA, WBO and IBF champion.
Since his transition to the division, the Ukrainian has sparred the likes of Martin Bakole, Dave Allen, Fabio Wardley and Dubois amongst others.
And, speaking to Pro Boxing Fans, Chisora believes that the 36-year-old has gained a significant advantage by having the Brit in past camps.
“He’s boxing a Rolls-Royce is Daniel, so he needs to be Rolls-Royce himself, when he’s in there.
Everybody always say it’s the heavyweight game, one punch can change the game. One punch can change the game if you’re not on point, but I know that Usyk will be on point and ready for this fight.
Remember, he used to spar Daniel for many rounds, so he knows how he moves and stuff like that.”
Usyk will make a second defence of unified titles on August 26 in Poland, where he takes on the WBA mandatory challenger, Dubois.
The card will be available to watch live on TNT Sports in the UK and on ESPN+ in the States, with the undercard featuring the debut of Aadam Hamed, son of former featherweight world champion, ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed.