Oleksandr Usyk will defend his unified heavyweight titles against 25-year-old Daniel Dubois on August 26 in Wroclaw, Poland.
The Ukrainian, who was previously undisputed in the cruiserweight ranks, will enter the ring a heavy favourite to keep his belts against the Brit, who bounced back from a loss against Joe Joyce with four straight stoppage wins to find himself here.
Whilst Joyce believes Usyk will win, he spoke to Seconds Out about his countryman’s punching power, and believes it could be a game-changer.
“I think he’s got a chance. Dubois hits very hard, but is he gonna be able to hit Usyk? Usyk can dance around, moving, hitting him. I’s like to see [Dubois win] and bring the title back to the UK, then I can beat him for it again.
But yeah, it’s a very tough fight. I think Usyk’s probably gonna do it, but Dubois’ got a puncher’s chance and he’s got a very big punch. If he can land a few shots he could have him wobbling all over the place.”
Joyce also has experience with Usyk, having lost to him in the amateur ranks via clear points decision. He’s hoping to avenge his loss to Zhilei Zhang in order to force a title shot in the pro game.
The prediction follows suit with many others, the general thinking being Dubois must be the first man to hurt and stop Usyk in order to win.
It’s a challenge the champion is used to, having dealt with the power of Anthony Joshua over 24 rounds in his last two outings.
The event will play out inside the 43,000 capacity Tarczynski Arena, and will be available to UK fans on TNT Sports Box Office.