Usyk – Dubois. The Ukrainian will have his fifth fight in the last five years, but the ability to reach the peak is his main feature

August, 26th Oleksandr Usyk in Wroclaw will defend titles WBA/WBO/IBF/IBO world champion in a duel against the mandatory challenger according to the World Boxing Association Daniel Dubois. For the Ukrainian boxer, the fight will be only the fifth in the last five years. For the same period earlier, he had 15 fights. Since October 2018, the opponent of the Ukrainian has already fought 11 fights. But the quality of the opposition of boxers cannot be compared, and the ability to reach the peak of form at the right time is one of the main features of the Ukrainian. Let’s try to figure it out.

Number of fights

As we have said, Usyk holds an average of one fight a year. Moreover, the boxer’s fault in such a schedule is minimal. Perhaps, only the period from 2018 to 2019, when Alexander took a short vacation associated with a busy period of conquest of the cruiserweight and the transition to a new weight, can be considered a decision for Usyk. Then covid, the coronavirus pandemic, Fury’s egocentrism, and injuries intervened. A fight a year is not the most critical schedule for a good level boxer, especially when you consider the quality of the opposition.

As for Dubois, the Briton had an incredibly active 2019, entering the ring four times a year. Even considering the prospect’s status, age and desire to make a name for himself, this figure is really impressive. Usyk had a similar period at the start of his professional career – in 2014, but the level of rivals for the Brit during this period was higher.

Opposition Level

We must pay tribute to Dubois – among his rivals in the last five years there were no frank bags. Naten Gorman, Ebbenzer Tette, Ricardo Snyders – boxers are not outstanding, but overall they are pretty good. Bogdan Tinu and Trevor Bryan are fighters near the top of the division. Joe Joyce and, with a bit of a stretch, Keven Lerena are top heavyweight boxers. Well, yes, the total record of the last 10 Dubois rivals is 118 wins and 8 losses. Three out of 10 boxers Daniel inflicted the first defeat in his career.

For Usyk, there is nothing to say. Two fights with Anthony Joshua, a fight with Chisora ​​- the Ukrainian fought at a really top level. The fight with Witherspoon is out of this canvas, but we have already talked about this more than once: for the Ukrainian it was a transition to heavyweight and the American was more than a suitable opponent for such a moment.

Usyk’s main feature

A lot has been said about the technical equipment, functionality of the Ukrainian and everyone knows it. But there is one more point that is worth paying attention to and which serves as a kind of derivative of the quantity and quality of Alexander’s fights. This is about the ability to reach the peak of form in a short time and at the right time.

Let’s remember how many times the Ukrainian had to postpone his fights or change plans over the past five years. The fight with Chisora ​​was postponed due to injury. The rematch with Joshua was postponed a couple of times. The fight with Dubois was a replacement for the planned fight with Tyson Fury, preparation for which Usyk began at the end of last year (!). In other words, Alexander had to go through training camps at least twice and plan to reach peak form twice on different dates.

Yes, this is definitely not new in boxing and many fighters have to go through this. But do not forget that Usyk is a cruiser who fights boxers who are much larger than him in size (so, by the way, it will be with Dubua). And if so, then 100% functional readiness is the key to his success in fights. Let’s hope that the Ukrainian managed to become the best version of himself before Dubois, otherwise it will be very difficult with a young and powerful Briton.