Oleksandr Usyk makes the second defence of his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight world titles against Daniel Dubois in Wroclaw, Poland.
The Ukrainian won the belts from Anthony Joshua in his third outing in the division, and subsequently retained the in their contracted rematch.
Dubois is fourth British fighter to attempt to defeat Usyk following failed attempts by ‘AJ’ and Derek Chisora at heavyweight and Tony Bellew one division down for the undisputed cruiserweight title.
The fight is Usyk’s first mandatory defence for the WBA, with Dubois having found himself in the number one slot following a victory over previous Regular champion, Trevor Bryan.
He defended that status last time out with a shaky but ultimately powerful performance against Kevin Lerena. Should he pull the upset here, it would go down as one of the biggest shocks in the heavyweight division for some time.
Since the fight has been ordered by the sanctioning body, there is no rematch clause. The winner – be it Usyk or Dubois – will move forward with all three titles.
Dubois’ promoter, Frank Warren – who also promotes the division’s other champion in Tyson Fury – has made it clear that he will look to set up a previously failed undisputed fight with Fury after this fight.
It’s something the IBF’s number one ranked contender, Filip Hrgovic, will take issue with.
The undefeated Croatian heavyweight is next in the rotation for a shot at the champion, and has said in no uncertain terms that he will not be stepping aside to allow a four-belt clash.