Eddie Hearn has weighed in with a prediction for the upcoming unified heavyweight world title clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois.
Matchroom boss Hearn knows better than most just how difficult an equation Usyk is to solve in the ring, after his charge Anthony Joshua failed on back to back occasions.
And though few are giving Dubois much of a prayer in Wroclaw next month, Hearn refused to completely write off the Brit in a recent interview with IFL TV.
“I think it’s a great chance for Daniel. I don’t think he wins any rounds, but he’s a huge puncher and we know Usyk can be hurt. I think Dubois has got a shot in that fight.”
“I don’t think he wins, but he could win and good luck to him. I’d love to see him go and do it.
With the contest taking place in Poland, which neighbours his native Ukraine, it will serve as a de facto homecoming for Usyk and is expected to be a sell out on the night, with millions of his countrymen and women now residing in Poland.
It will be his first time in the ring in almost exactly a year, since his second consecutive victory over Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia last year.
Though Dubois is a heavy handed and will have every intention of upsetting the applecart, the bout is seen as a bit of a formality for Uysk, whom the boxing world had hoped to see lock horns with a different British heavyweight in 2023 – an undisputed match up with WBC world champion Tyson Fury.