The awkward truth behind Wembley D-Day for Dubois

Daniel Dubois and Oleksandr Usyk clash for a second time in northwest London tonight, two years after the Ukrainian beat the Briton in a controversial bout, writes Alex Pattle

- Alex Pattle

In many ways, Oleksandr Usyk's rematch with Daniel Dubois is the natural next step through a heavyweight landscape that has been as scenic over the last two years as it has in decades. The simplest sell for this bout is that Usyk is the unified champion and Dubois is the IBF title holder; all of the belts, as ever, “must” be unified (even though they never stay that way), with the winner at Wembley Stadium set to be crowned undisputed champion.

Undisputed status eluded all heavyweights for 24 years until Usyk outpointed Tyson Fury 14 months ago, yet the unbeaten Ukrainian only held that status for a matter of weeks before he gave up the IBF belt; in honouring a rematch with Fury, Usyk allowed interim IBF champion Dubois to be elevated, and the young Briton retained the official version of the belt with a demolition of Anthony Joshua in September.

These are the basic facts, which position Usyk, 38, and Dubois, 27, as opponents in London this evening. There is also their history: a unified title fight two years ago, when Usyk climbed off the canvas to stop Dubois in Poland, with the latter’s camp swearing that the low blow against the southpaw had in fact been a legal body shot.

But to dive deeper is to realise that Usyk vs Dubois 2 is actually a somewhat awkward match-up.