Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk will face Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on July 19 in the first ever world heavyweight undisputed clash on British soil.
After months of negotiations, the two world champions will combine to put all four belts on the line in a winner-takes-all showdown at the national stadium.
As
initially reported by The Ring’s Mike Coppinger earlier this month, the pair had looked set to meet on July 12 before it was pushed back a week to July 19 and now that date has been officially confirmed by Queensberry Promotions and Ready To Fight.
The fight, which will top a huge Riyadh Season sponsored event, is a rerun of the pair’s controversial 2023 clash when Usyk eventually stopped Dubois in the ninth round at the Stadion Wroclaw in Poland.
But Team Dubois were incensed after Usyk had been dropped heavily in the fifth round by a shot which was adjudged by referee Luis Pabon to have been low.
Usyk was given time to recover and stormed back to finish off Dubois four rounds later but the Londoner’s promoter Frank Warren lobbied the WBA to overturn the result and order an immediate rematch.
They were unsuccessful in that appeal but now, nearly two years on, IBF heavyweight champion Dubois will get his chance at revenge over Ring champion Usyk, who also holds the WBO, WBA and WBC belts.
The Ukrainian became the first ‘four-belt’ heavyweight champion in history when he beat Tyson Fury in Riyadh on May 18 last year but he relinquished his IBF belt when he opted to face the Englishman in an immediate rematch rather than face a mandatory challenger.
Now the 38-year-old southpaw, 23-0 (14), can win back the belt he never lost if he can beat 22-2 (21) puncher Dubois at Wembley.
“I’m grateful to God for the opportunity to once again fight for the undisputed championship,” Usyk said. “Thank you, Daniel, for taking care of my IBF belt — now I want it back.”
Since his defeat against Usyk, Dubois has been in searing form, stopping top contenders Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua over the course of a red-hot nine-month period.
He said: “This is the fight I wanted and demanded and now I get my chance for revenge against Oleksandr Usyk.”
“I should have won the first fight and was denied by the judgement of the referee, so I will make no mistake this time around in front of my people at the national stadium in my home city. I am a superior and more dangerous fighter now and Usyk will find this out for himself on July 19.
“I would like to thank my promoter Frank for making this happen for me and I intend to repay him by becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.”