Oleksandr Usyk’s Prediction for Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois

Highlights

Oleksandr Usyk has defeated both Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk in the past.
The British duo meet in September – fighting for the IBF Heavyweight Championship that Usyk vacated in June.
Usyk sees a clear winner at Wembley Stadium.

Oleksandr Usyk freely admits he doesn’t like making predictions. However, the unified world heavyweight champion has gone away from usual habit of keeping his cards close to his chest to share his views on the upcoming showdown between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.

The two Brits will do battle at Wembley Stadium on the 21st of September – with the IBF Heavyweight Championship on the line. Dubois was promoted from interim to full IBF champion when the Ukrainian vacated the gold in late June.

Usyk had only just won the belt from Tyson Fury but was placed in a position where he had to surrender it as he could not commit to facing Dubois next due to his contractually obligated rematch with ‘The Gypsy King’ in late December. As ridiculous as it is that Usyk was cornered into giving up a world title only weeks after becoming the first undisputed champion of the four-belt era, it does up the stakes for the clash between Joshua and Dubois.

Oleksandr Usyk’s Emphatic Prediction for Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois

The Ukrainian sees a clear winner at Wembley

Few men are as qualified as Usyk to offer a prediction on the fight, having previously shared the ring with both Joshua and Dubois. ‘The Cat’ outpointed ‘AJ’ in September 2021 to become a world heavyweight champion for the first time. He then repeated the dose by turning back the challenge of the Londoner in their August 2022 rematch.

In his next bout a year later, Usyk would survive a real scare before stopping Dubois inside the distance. The former cruiserweight champion was sent sprawling to the canvas by Dubois – with what looked to be a body shot. However, the referee saw the punch differently, ruling it a low blow and giving the champion several minutes to recover.

Had the punch not been called low, it is unlikely that Usyk would have made it back to his feet before the count of 10. As it turned out, the 37-year-old took advantage of what was arguably a huge let-off to stop ‘Triple D’ inside the distance.

Despite his moment of drama against Dubois, Usyk explained to the Daily Mail in a recent interview why he is backing Joshua to get the job done and become a three-time heavyweight champion. Usyk declared:

“He [Joshua] has improved a lot psychologically. Of course [I believe he will defeat Daniel Dubois]. I hate predictions, but it is an Olympic champion against a UK champion. Anthony is a different level.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Usyk admitted that he would be open to facing ‘AJ’ again in a trilogy bout, although he did state that he “doesn’t like rematches”. No mention was made of a potential rematch with Dubois. However, that is understandable given that Usyk doesn’t believe ‘Dynamite’ Dubois is on Joshua’s level.