Oleksandr Usyk is set for a second shot at undisputed in winning back the title he should never have lost outside the ring.
World Boxing News understands that a rematch with Daniel Dubois is now Turki Alalshikh’s number-one choice following last weekend’s action in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. With all four titles at stake, the clash could happen in the region or the United Kingdom by June.
Dubois was freed up by a bout of illness suffered during the build-up to Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2, where the Londoner was forced to pull out of a battle with Joseph Parker. The February 22 event went on without ‘DDD,’ who was one of two fighters who eventually cried off the card.
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Usyk and Dubois could now meet for the second time following a knockout by the Ukrainian in August 2023 that came with a touch of controversy over a low blow. Dubois thought he’d put Usyk on the canvas, only for the referee to call a foul. Usyk then took several minutes to get himself together.
UK fans wanted Dubois to be declared the fight’s winner via KO after Usyk had defeated Anthony Joshua twice. Authorities ruled in favor of Usyk, who won via TKO and beat another Briton, Tyson Fury, in a second double triumph.
The heavyweight division has since become cloudy as mandates pile up, with only Dubois getting his shot when Joe Joyce, Zhilei Zhang, Parker, and, more recently, Agit Kabayel have all held interim titles.
A most likely scenario for Alalshikh to devise is a heavyweight double-header, which would see Usyk vs. Dubois accompanied by Parker vs. Kabayel in a semi-final, much like the Day of Reckoning card that ruined fans’ chances of seeing Deontay Wilder vs. Joshua in 2024.
Parker is already unhappy that he missed out on facing Dubois for the IBF title. The New Zealander will be even more annoyed that Dubois could now make a diversion and face Usyk for all the gold.
Usyk's face as Martin Bakole gets wiped out by Jospeh Parker in two.
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Discussing the situation in Saudi Arabia, Parker said, “I think there’s going to be a fight with Usyk and Dubois lined up because everyone is talking about it now. Possibly, I’ll have one more fight [likely Kabayel] before fighting for the world championship. It sucks not fighting for the world championship.
“Since I lost it [the WBO title he won against Andy Ruiz] in 2018, I’ve been working hard to get back to fighting for the title. To get a chance to fight for it [the IBF title], it vanishes in front of you two days before the fight. At that time, I didn’t care. I was focused on the fight date and staying switched on for whoever was going to be in front of me. Now the [Bakole] fight is done, it doesn’t feel right,” he added.
The added pressure of having two interim champions, Parker [WBO] and Kabayel [WBC], gives Alalshikh an easy option to appease two of the sanctioning bodies.
