After Oleksandr Usyk executed his second points victory of the year over Tyson Fury — December’s win coming unanimously — he was immediately confronted by a new challenger.
Daniel Dubois stepped into the ring in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and live on DAZN, and issued his challenge right there.
"Usyk, I want my revenge. I want my revenge, Usyk," Dubois told the unified heavyweight champion of the world.
"Well done tonight. I want my revenge from the robbery last time. Let's get it, let's go!"
To that, Usyk replied: "No problem. Where's [promoter] Frank [Warren]? Make it happen.
"Where Excellency? Make me fight with Daniel Dubois. Thank you so much."
The thought sounds good, considering Dubois owns the IBF heavyweight title and a rematch against Usyk would be for the undisputed crown. But it’s far from a guarantee.
In order to manufacture that fight, Dubois (22-2, 21 knockouts) must first successfully defend his IBF championship against a dangerous Joseph Parker (35-3, 23 KOs) as the co-main event to Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2, live on DAZN pay-per-view, on February 22.
So that brings us to our eighth DAZN New Year’s Resolution for boxing in 2025:
For Usyk to face the winner of Dubois-Parker with the undisputed heavyweight crown at stake
Usyk became the undisputed heavyweight world champion after defeating Fury the first time via split-decision in May. When Dubois defeated Filip Hrgovic by eighth-round TKO in June to win the interim IBF title, he was soon thereafter elevated to full IBF champion when Usyk vacated the federation’s strap later that month.
Usyk and Dubois are of course no strangers.
Usyk delivered a ninth-round knockout of Dubois in August 2023, but the victory didn’t come without controversy.
Dubois dropped Usyk with a right hand to the body during the fifth round of their fight. Shortly after hitting the canvas, Usyk and his corner claimed the shot was a low-blow and the Ukrainian wisely played up to the pain with veteran savvy. That might have helped the referee to view the shot as a low-blow as well.
However, an instant replay showed the body shot was on the belt line and that it should have been counted as a knockdown. Perhaps, it should have been registered as a subsequent knockout as well as Usyk took his time rising up off the canvas.
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Therefore, that’s the “robbery” Dubois spoke of when confronting the undefeated Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) in the ring last month.
Making the rematch happen will be easier said than done, however.
Parker has shown a propensity for handling big punchers with clean boxing skills powered by an incessant motor.
The former WBO heavyweight titleholder has shown this in his past two victories, negating Deontay Wilder’s devastating right hand with a boxing masterclass in a unanimous decision win in December 2023, before being the quicker man to the punch in a majority decision victory over Zhilei Zhang in March. Parker eked out the latter despite being dropped twice in the bout.
Whether it’s Dubois or Parker who emerges victorious on February 22, either man facing Usyk should thrill boxing fans and critics alike.
If it’s Dubois, we get to see if Usyk can defeat the Brit without controversy or if Dubois can make him taste the canvas with his punching power again and keep him there en route to the biggest victory of his career. The 27-year-old is coming off an eye-opening fifth-round destruction of Anthony Joshua last September during his last ring appearance.
If it’s Parker, we get to see a high-level boxing chess match on display for boxing’s biggest jewel.
Either undisputed heavyweight matchup would dazzle, with 2025 being the apt time to ring the opening bell on it.
Usyk is already a lock Hall of Famer as one of three men with undisputed reigns in two different divisions during the four-belt modern era — cruiserweight and heavyweight. (Terence Crawford at super lightweight and welterweight and Naoya Inoue at bantamweight and super bantamweight are the other men to accomplish the feat).
A second undisputed heavyweight reign would just add to his legend that much more.