Dubois pins hopes on power but ring wizard Usyk should prevent an upset

The British challenger has the physical advantage but that is unlikely to count against triple world heavyweight champion

Daniel Dubois has had 20 fights as a professional heavyweight while Oleksandr Usyk has had just four bouts in the same division. Usyk is much the smaller man, usually weighing 20 pounds less than Dubois who, at 6ft 5in, is two inches taller than him. Dubois is 25 and he clearly punches harder than Usyk who, at 36, is also living through the trauma of his country, Ukraine, being ground down by a Russian invasion which is no closer to being resolved now than when it began 18 months ago.

Yet the blunt truth remains that none of Dubois’s considerable advantages are likely to count for much when he steps into the ring in the Polish city of Wroclaw on Saturday night to challenge Usyk who will make the second defence of the IBF, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles he won when he outclassed Anthony Joshua in September 2021. Usyk, unlike Dubois, is a brilliant technician and a hardened champion who has a deep and outstanding pedigree as both an amateur and professional boxer. An Olympic gold medallist and the former undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world, Usyk displays an ease and wizardry between the ropes that Dubois will never be able to master.