After a difficult fight against South African cruiserweight-turned-heavyweight, Kevin Lerena, it seemed that Daniel Dubois was set for a spell on the sidelines.
Dubois defeated Kevin Lerena by third-round knockout on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s fight with Derek Chisora, however a slow start from the favourite led to him touching the canvas three times in the opening round after catching a punch on top of his head.
Since the fight, Barry McGuigan and his son Shane, who trains Dubois, have confirmed that the six-foot-five power-puncher suffered a nasty injury in the first round.
A few days ago, former featherweight champion McGuigan said the heavyweight prospect had suffered a torn ACL and would be out for six months.
“Well, it’s interesting. Dan has a tear on his ACL, and as soon as we got the news that he had a tear on his ACL, suddenly he was offered the fight [with Usyk] – which he can’t have, he can’t box for six months now anyway because of the repair time.”
“He got hit on top of the head the last time, and when he stepped back he tore his ACL and his balance was very badly affected.”
It seemed to be a frustrating end to the year for Dubois, who was recently called as the WBA mandatory to face Oleksandr Usyk. However, the fighter himself disputed the six month timeline and claimed that he will be back early next year.
“6 months is not right! I will be ready to fight in early 2023.”
6 months is not right! I will be ready to fight in early 2023 🥊 https://t.co/oBxhRhhrwO
— Daniel Dubois (@DynamiteDubois) December 19, 2022
The medical world recommends 6 months recovery time following ACL surgery, with many people taking up to 8-9 months to get back to full fitness. It’s unclear how serious the young fighter’s injury is.
Both the WBA and IBF have called their mandatories for Usyk’s world titles – however it is strongly assumed that they will allow an undisputed with Tyson Fury to take precedence.
That means the first men in line for their title shots – Dubois, Joe Joyce, and Filip Hrgovic – sit in limbo. It is unlikely that Dubois will fight Usyk in ‘early 2023’, so it would seem that he and his team are planning a fight in the interim.