Daniel Dubois has had to sit in the pre-fight build with Oleksandr Usyk as huge underdog ahead of their heavyweight title fight at the Stadion Wroclaw, Poland. The talk has been more focused around a failed bout between Usyk and Tyson Fury rather than what Dubois has in his arsenal to potentially spoil the Ukrainian’s undefeated record.
Dubois’s promoter Frank Warren has stood firm in the pre fight festivities, who also co-promotes Tyson Fury, when jousting with counterpart Alexander Krassyuk over who is to blame for the undisputed clash not getting over the line.
ProBox TV spoke exclusively to Warren today in Wroclaw to discuss Dubois’s incredibly steep mountain he has to climb on Saturday night against Usyk.
“I have seen a big improvement in Daniel, I definitely don’t think Usyk and his team are underestimating him.” Warren said. “They are a very professional outfit. Daniel is improving and has improved a lot, he’s 25 years of age and been a pro for seven years. This should be his moment! He’s in with an extremely good fighter, probably the best cruiserweight of this century. As a heavyweight? He’s done everything that has been asked of him. We saw what he was all about against [Dereck] Chisora and Anthony Joshua twice. Daniel has to do better than them, what he has to do is command the fight. Stick behind his jab and not look for big bombs all the time, he can’t tighten up when he is throwing the shots. He has got to relax and relax off the jab and break him down, and I think he can do that.
“I’ve seen what you should do against Usyk, it is whether what you do will have any effect because Joshua didn’t do it. The much bigger guy, you would expect him to impose himself more. He just didn’t do it, that’s what Daniel has to do.”
I asked if Dubois had become agitated by the talk of Fury and if it had disrupted the Englishman’s focus.
“I know, but I don’t think he cares.” Warren explained. “He’s not a vociferous guy, he’s not a bragger or anything like that. He does his talking in the ring, which suits me fine.”
Dubois has moved trainer from Shane McGuigan to Don Charles since his action packed victory over Kevin Lerena last December.
“It is not ideal but they have settled down really well.” Warren added. “That’s the main thing, they have a good rapport. They seem very close to each other, that’s what you want [as a promoter]. They believe in each other. They asked me about it before the change, among others things, I was happy with the decision.”
