Oleksandr Usyk’s second unified world heavyweight title defence, which is set to be held on August 26th in Wroclaw, Poland & is set to be the maiden pay-per-view event for TNT Sports, which is set to launch in the UK on July 18th.
TNT Sports, a rebrand of the broadcaster BT Sport, was confirmed to be the new home of Queensberry Boxing earlier this year following a 2022 merger between BT Sport and Discovery/Eurosport.
International Boxing News initially reported the news of Usyk vs Dubois securing its position on TNT Sports on PPV. However, no comment has been forthcoming from K2 Promotions/Usyk17 (Usyk) or Queensberry Promotions, who represent Dubois promotionally.
The contest between Usyk and Dubois will see, at long last, the heavyweight titles being contested after a period of inactivity between the pair of Usyk and WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
While Usyk has not fought since August of 2022 in his contractually obligated rematch with Anthony Joshua, which he won via a controversial split decision (regarding the scoring, as many felt it was a rightfully comfortable win for Usyk). Fury himself has not fought since December of 2022 following his knockout victory over Derek Chisora. Usyk was ringside to witness Fury’s victory, and months of protracted negotiations began with a date tentatively set for April 29th at London’s Wembley Stadium.
However, those talks were conducted publicly, with Fury publically setting out his terms which included a split of the financials of 70/30%. A sticking point arose when the pair could not agree to terms regarding a purse split in any possible rematch scenario.
Alex Krassyuk, the promoter of Usyk, has been targeting Poland as a possible host for Usyk’s return to the ring due to a sizeable Ukranian population within the nation due to a high percentage of refugees settling in Poland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Wroclaw Stadium, which has a seated capacity of 45,000, will be hosting the contest between Usyk and Dubois, who himself is backing himself to shock the world when he spoke to ProBox TV last month as he continued his preparations ahead of the official confirmation of his challenge to face Usyk.
“It’s a big task we’ve got ahead of us. I know everyone’s writing me off already, but you know I’m the underdog. There’s no pressure on me. I’m 100% ready for it.”
Dubois earnt his position as mandatory challenger to Usyk following his knockout victory over Trevor Bryan in June of last year inside four rounds to collect the WBA’s secondary heavyweight world title. Dubois followed his victory over Bryan with a third-round stoppage of Kevin Lerena as part of the supporting cast to Tyson Fury’s routine title defence against Derek Chisora. However, despite victory, Dubois found himself on the canvas three times in the opening round and sustained an ACL injury. Questions regarding Dubois’s fitness raised concerns within the Usyk management team following the collapse of the Fury negotiations, with Egis Klimas insisting that Dubois proves his fitness to fight despite the WBA ordering the contest as a mandatory defence for Usyk.
