Revenge over Usyk may be a matter of time for Dubois

Daniel Dubois was a long way from finished at the end of his world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk in Poland two years ago.

- STEVE BUNCE

Dubois had been dropped twice and stopped when he narrowly failed to beat the count in round nine. It was not a happy night for Dubois and, in the midnight aftermath, harsh questions were asked about his desire to fight.

Dubois, it turns out, did want to fight, and he went on an impressive three-fight streak, winning all by stoppage and arguably starting all three as the underdog. It salvaged his reputation in a sport where lines are crossed too often by people pumping an agenda. Dubois also won the world heavyweight title.

On Saturday at Wembley Stadium, he fights Usyk again for all four of the world heavyweight titles; it is a rematch that looked like a fantasy at the end of that long, long night in the Polish ring.

Instead, there is bold talk of Dubois knocking out Usyk this time. There was, in their first fight, the controversial moment in round five when Usyk went down from a body shot - the problem was, according to the referee and, it would appear, from replays, as the uppercut landed, the initial contact was with an illegal part of the body. It was on the beltline, but in boxing that line is a floating feast of interpretation and error. The debate on the punch - legal, illegal, intentional, accidental - rages on even now and will never be solved.