Tasked with putting right the wrongs from their first pairing, Daniel Dubois is unlikely to topple Oleksandr Usyk this time around, according to a former coach of his.
Defending his status as IBF heavyweight kingpin this weekend, Dubois has the chance to clinch the undisputed heavyweight championship in a rematch fight with Usyk at Wembley Stadium later this week.
Falling short in their first clash in 2023, Dubois was forced on the back foot by the Ukrainian en route to an eventual ninth round loss.
And despite racking up impressive wins since then, Dubois’ former head coach insists it’ll likely prove one-way traffic against Usyk this week again.
Shane McGuigan picks Oleksandr Usyk to beat ex-student Daniel Dubois again
Off the back of his much-discussed loss to Joe Joyce back in 2020, Dubois shifted his camp away from McGuigan and co for his return to action.
Preparing to take on Bogdan Dinu in his return, Dubois prevailed with a patented KO victory in Telford that following year.
Despite leading Dubois to 15 straight wins, McGuigan remained candid on his ex-student’s ability to topple Usyk — which he claims is slim to almost none.
“I think (Oleksandr) Usyk’s gonna beat him (Daniel Dubois),” McGuigan told Seconds Out. “And I think Usyk presses him back. I think Daniel’s really good on the front foot.
“But when Daniel gets pressed back, he loses that timing and he loses that confidence. That’s what he [Usyk] did [in their first fight].
“He just feinted him back and created angles, he just kept chipping away at him. And you can see it wasn’t a big punch that dropped him at the end of that first fight. It was just his confidence was lost.”
Usually employing an aggressive approach, as on show in his stunning KO win over Anthony Joshua, Dubois is not set to change his game plan much in his re-run with Usyk.
Daniel Dubois vows to bring ‘chaos’ to rematch with Oleksandr Usyk
Finding early success against Usyk — including a low blow-come-knockdown against the former undisputed champion in their clash in Poland, Dubois remains confident of finally breaking through.
And to do so, he vows to employ a “chaotic” approach in a bid to finally avenge his defeat to the Ukrainian megastar.
“I’m going to go in there and do what I have to do,” Dubois said on The Stomping Ground channel. “Make it crazy. Make it chaos. Bring chaos on the night.
“Whatever it takes to win, I’m going to do it. He’s just a man, and I’ll just have to break him down, turn him old on the night, wear him out.”