Former world champion Barry McGuigan says he would not be “at all surprised” if big-hitting Daniel Dubois beats Oleksandr Usyk in this summer’s undisputed heavyweight title fight.
Briton Dubois, the IBF belt holder, and WBA, WBO and WBC champion Usyk will meet for the second time on 19 July at Wembley Stadium after Usyk’s ninth-round stoppage victory in August 2023.
And while McGuigan – whose son Shane formerly trained Dubois – is still backing the undefeated Ukrainian to win, he expects the 27-year-old Londoner to provide a much sterner test than he did in their first bout in Poland.
“Dubois can knock the house down, he hits so hard,” former featherweight champion McGuigan told BBC Sport NI’s Thomas Niblock.
“Shane, my son, got him across the line. We went out to Miami, he knocked out Trevor Bryan Jr to win the WBA regular title [in 2022].
“He is a big, strong, powerful heavyweight. A modern-day heavyweight, 18-and-a-half stone, 6ft 4in, built like the proverbial out-house. A massive guy and could knock the wall down with a right hand or a left hook.”
McGuigan, who has helped mentor Dubois’ sister Caroline Dubois, acknowledged the “significant” power difference between former cruiserweight Usyk and the British fighter, who weighed in at almost 18 stone for his stunning knockout victory over Anthony Joshua last September.
However, the 64-year-old Irishman feels 38-year-old Usyk is “too clever” to allow Dubois a clean shot.
“When the big guys hit you, you stay hit. I think Usyk, with the experience he’s had, has got better,” said McGuigan.
“It’s a more difficult fight because Usyk has got older and Dubois is still very young. For me, they’ve gotten closer so the fight will be closer. If Usyk gets hit clean by Dubois, the fight is over, but he’ll not get hit like that, he’s too clever.
“Dubois will want to work on his body, put him under pressure. That whole friction is going to be very exciting.”
McGuigan added: “I think Usyk will win this time, I’m not sure if he’ll stop him, but it could be a wide points decision.”
McGuigan was speaking in an interview to mark the 40th anniversary of his famous world-title triumph over mighty Panamanian fighter Eusebio Pedroza.
When the Irishman prevailed at Loftus Road on 8 June 1985, it was watched by a UK television audience of 19 million people.
Now the sport is dominated by pay-per-view bouts, with increasing influence from figures such as Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority, funded by Saudi’s Public Investment Fund, which is reported to have spent more than 5bn on sport.
“He wants to make it [Saudi Arabia] the centre of big sporting events and fair dues to him, the fighters are getting paid much better as a result of that, the coming together of Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren, so that’s a good thing for the game,” observed McGuigan.
“It’s good that there’s more money involved for the fighters, it’s a dangerous and serious business so it’s good that they’re making better money than they did in the past.
“What it does is it takes down the barrier of these guys wanting to fight each other. If he pays him enough they’ll say ‘yes, I’m in’ so we get WBA champions fighting WBC champions and IBF champions fighting WBO champions.”
