It has been revealed this week that James Ali Bashir, the some-time trainer of Oleksandr Usyk, has been drafted into the camp of Daniel Dubois and as a result has come out in support of the young Brit’s huge punching power, saying it is on par with the likes of Sonny Liston and George Foreman.
Usyk and Dubois come to blows in their world title match-up this weekend in Poland, and many fans and pundits think it will be a straightforward night’s work for the Ukrainian southpaw. For most, the only chance the relatively inexperienced 25-year-old Dubois has is if he lands a big punch.
Legendary coach Bashir has been in the Dubois camp in its final stages and has been assessing what he’s seen. He was the first man to ever train Usyk and has also worked with big hitters such as Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko, so has excellent insight into Dubois’ power.
Speaking to Seconds Out, Bashir, who says he knows Usyk better than anybody, compared Dubois’ hitting ability to other heavyweight greats.
“I’ve worked with big punchers before like Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko, you know, and Daniel Dubois ranks right up there with the best of them.
He has great, great punching power. I think he can go all the way with that kind of punching power. He has that Sonny Liston, George Foreman kind of punching power.”
Ali was then asked if that power would be an equaliser but stopped short of agreeing.
“Usyk takes a good punch. He’s an enigma. He’s not to be taken lightly by anybody.”
Should Dubois manage to defeat Usyk, he would very much deserve the unified WBO, WBA and IBF titles that would be going home with him.