Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois II Predictions: Below the belt won’t win Dubois the belts

Oleksandr Usyk puts his WBC, WBA, WBO and The Ring heavyweight championships on the line against IBF holder Daniel Dubois this Saturday, July 19. For the second consecutive year, a new undisputed heavyweight champion will be crowned. The fight takes place at Wembley Stadium with DAZN PPV screening the bumper event.

Here are my Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois II predictions ahead of this heavyweight blockbuster.

Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois II Odds

Usyk is 4/11 to win against ‘Dynamite’ for the second time. Dubois is 11/4 to score the upset and lift the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world. The draw is priced at 20/1.

Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois II Fight Preview

This fight has an air of “been there, done that” for Usyk in many respects. ‘The Cat’ is already the undisputed champion by rights, with Dubois only being awarded the IBF belt because the Ukrainian wonder had a contracted rematch with Fury and therefore could not defend the title against him last year. Usyk has also beaten Dubois before. Handily, in fact. 

Never has a low blow been more lucrative than the one Dubois landed early in the fifth round of their last encounter. ‘Dynamite’ argues it was a body shot. Usyk’s detractors allege that it is proof that the two-weight champion is vulnerable to body shots. Balderdash. It was a low blow, plain and simple. Usyk went on to knock Dubois out in the ninth. Were it not for the illegal punch Dubois struck Usyk with, nobody would talk about an otherwise one-sided fight.

But you have to hand it to Dubois, he has been on fire since that date with destiny. I would argue that the three finest performances of the 27-year-old’s career have all taken place between the initial Usyk meeting and this Saturday’s affair.

During that period, Dubois has stopped Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua. Apart from Joseph Parker, who the Brit backed out of a fight with due to illness in February, there is no heavyweight in better form apart from Usyk himself. The fact Dubois was allowed to leapfrog Parker was ridiculous, however. The power of that low blow somehow trumping the New Zealander’s six-fight winning run that includes back-to-back victories over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole. 

But despite his route here being eased by an illegal punch and the IBF idiotically stripping the undisputed heavyweight champion in the wake of his historic win, Dubois is still an elite heavyweight. He has proved that. The fifth-round heroics against Joshua under this same arch were a stimulating tableau. One of Britain’s outgoing heavyweight icons having the torch unceremoniously ripped from his grasp by the new one. 

Usyk is in for a tougher test this time, I truly believe that. Dubois has knocked out three of the finest heavyweights on the planet since his August 2023 defeat to the heavyweight kingpin. That sort of experience shapes a boxer. Dubois answered some questions too. Many pundits reckoned ‘Triple D’ lacked heart. Try telling that to Dubois after he rode Miller and Hrgovic’s best shots and knocked out Joshua at the exact point that ‘AJ’ was landing his own heaviest artillery.

But this is still Oleksandr Usyk we are talking about. The Ukrainian cruiserweight who took one look at the dominant heavyweights of the era and dismantled them both twice. Joshua and Fury were taken apart over 24 rounds apiece. 

Amusingly, this will be the seventh time in his eight heavyweight contests that Usyk has fought a British opponent. Far from displaying a distaste for the old Empire, this is more a demonstration that this sceptred isle has dominated the big-man scene for the duration of the post-Klitschko era. But in beating Fury, Joshua, Dubois and one Derek Chisora; Usyk has left no doubt who runs the show now.

The iconic champion has hinted that the end is nigh. You can see why. Usyk is commonly linked to tepid trilogies with Fury and Usyk. I feel it would be a crying shame if Parker does not get his day in fistic court. But beyond that, there is little out there for the unbeaten 38-year-old. The other options are either under-cooked (Moses Itauma), deserving but hard to sell (Agit Kabayel) or cloud cuckoo land (Chisora II, Jake f**king Paul).

Enjoy him while he is here folks, because Usyk is not forever. But if he wins against Dubois, his legacy just might be. As ridiculous as it is, ‘Dynamite’ remains an asterisk on Usyk’s incredible record. ‘The Cat’ will be looking to wipe the slate clean at Wembley.

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Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois II Prediction

Too slick, too quick, too good. Usyk has every tool needed to beat Dubois. Hard to hit clean, as evidenced by Dubois going below the belt to do it, I see the unified king frustrating his IBF counterpart in this one. 

There may be a modicum more caution from Usyk. After all, if Dubois lands a similar punch slightly above the belt this time, that is a hard one to ride. But Fury and, to a lesser extent, ‘AJ’ both hit Usyk with some uncomfortable shots and he always stayed standing and firing back. 

Dubois must stay active. Do not get obsessed with landing that one knockout blow. Inactivity is catnip to ‘The Cat’. He will simply dictate the play and move you around the ring at his leisure.

That is the fight I foresee, to be honest. Usyk is a prime technician and I think he has forgotten more about scientific boxing than Dubois will ever know. That is not an insult, but ‘Dynamite’ is a pure puncher facing a fighter with a complete game. I’m taking Usyk on points at 7/4.

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