The WBA ordered a head-to-head fight between two heavyweight champions of the organization: Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 12 KOs) must defend his super belt in the confrontation with the WBA World title holder Briton Daniel Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs).
The decision of the WBA is not in the hands of the Ukrainian, since he is only interested in a duel with the owner of the missing WBC belt to the complete collection of the British Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs).
But, as it turned out later, Dubois has not yet applied for a fight with Usyk. First, coach Shane McGuigan stated this, and then information
confirmed his father Barry McGuigan: “Funny story. As soon as we learned that Dan had a cruciate ligament rupture, he was immediately offered a fight with Usyk. He cannot take the fight. He is undergoing surgery and recovery. This will take at least six months.”
In December, Dubois almost lost the title in his debut defense against Kevin Lerena – he was on the floor three times in the opening round. According to McGuigan, all this is due to injury: “He missed the shot, took a step back, and at that moment tore the“ crosses ”. It was for this reason that he had such severe balance problems. Ema had to overcome all the hardships in order to turn the tide of that fight and celebrate the victory. He kept his cool. And Shane did a great job in the corner, calming down the protagonist, making adjustments to his plan for the fight.
According to McGuigan, “It’s not fair to offer Dubois a fight with Usyk when he was so seriously injured. He needs rest, he needs recovery. But this does not mean that he refuses to fight the best of the best. I do not hide the fact that I would prefer Dan to enter the ring not with Usyk, but with Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury. After all, Usyk is a complete set of different tricks and tricks. Also, he’s left-handed. But we are not afraid of him either.”
Does Usyk have to fight Dubois first? The director of the Ukrainian team answers. Meanwhile, the top US heavyweight prospect wants White, “slow” Joyce or Dubois.