Since his move up to heavyweight, every Oleksandr Usyk fight has had swathes of speculation surrounding his physique and weight.
There was once a notion that Usyk was simply not naturally big enough to cut it in the blue ribbon division, however his becoming unified world champion after back to back wins over Anthony Joshua quickly put that talk to bed.
Now, around a month out from a mandatory defence of his titles against Joshua’s countryman Daniel Dubois, the customary discussion around Usyk’s build has surfaced once more.
A photo was shared on Twitter from Usyk’s training camp, which was met with responses from fans who feel the Ukrainian looks noticeably bigger than he did in his rematch with Anthony Joshua last August.
Oleksandr Usyk playing basketball in training camp for the Daniel Dubois fight on Aug 26th… pic.twitter.com/ZQWbnOtYOy
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) July 20, 2023
“This is the biggest we’ve ever seen him.
He’s a lot bigger, he might TKO Dubois.
He’s bulking rapidly.
I’d be worried for Dubois with that new size.”
Whether he’s packed on the pounds or not, Usyk goes into the fight with Dubois on August 26th a wide favourite, with few giving the young Brit much more than a punchers chance of leaving Wroclaw with the belts.
Though Dubois is a formidable heavyweight and a respectable opponent, fans had hoped to see Usyk lock horns with another English heavyweight this year – a certain Tyson Fury.
After the recent announcement of his crossover bout with MMA star Francis Ngannou, question marks are starting to be raised over whether Fury is even interested in a legacy defining undisputed clash with Usyk.