Zhilei Zhang has weighed in with a prediction for Oleksandr Usyk’s world title defence against Daniel Dubois – and he’s envisaging a tough night for the Brit.
Usyk was ordered to defend his world titles against mandatory challenger Dubois by the WBA this spring, and purse bids were completed towards the back end of last month.
In a recent interview with Boxing News, Zhang struggled to make much of a case for Dubois and admitted he can see it being a comfortable evening’s work for Usyk.
“I think Usyk is going to have a pretty easy night. I think Dubois is going to have difficulty landing even one big punch.”
The contest is set to land in August 26 in Wroclaw, Poland to align with Ukraine independence day, and will serve as a homecoming of sorts for Usyk, given the large Ukrainian contingent in Poland.
He will go into the contest as an overwhelming favourite, with many observers viewing Dubois as little more than a stepping stone before a mammoth undisputed fight against Tyson Fury later in the year.
‘DDD’s preparations for the fight do not appear to have been ideal, as it was announced in May that he had split with trainer Shane McGuigan, reportedly over a family dispute, with sister Caroline staying with McGuigan.
Don Charles, who is best known for being the on-off trainer of Derek Chisora, will be the man tasked with preparing Dubois for the seemingly impossible job of dethroning Usyk in around ten weeks’ time.