I have a theory about Oleksandr
Usyk's heavyweight campaign: he's as good as he needs to be. Most of his fights
have been competitive on the scorecards. Chisora ran him close. The Fury
fights featured intense two-way combat. Even Anthony Joshua had stretches of good rounds
in the middle parts of both fights. To my eyes, Usyk deserved to win all of
those fights, but I never had a feeling of outright domination, or that he
absolutely needed a stoppage to win.
Usyk first fought Daniel Dubois
almost two years ago. And with the exception of Dubois landing a crushing body punch that may or may
not have been low, the fight was uneventful.
Usyk eventually made Dubois take a knee in the ninth round to end the fight. Dubois didn't absorb a life-changing beating in that fight, but he couldn't handle Usyk's pressure and cerebral approach. Dubois spent so much of the fight staring at Usyk, waiting, unable to act.
But Dubois came roaring back with stoppage wins over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua, picking up a share of the heavyweight title in the process (Usyk had relinquished that particular belt).
Entering Saturday's rematch with Usyk, a fight for undisputed status at heavyweight, Dubois had every reason to feel more confident in the
ring.
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| Usyk posing after victory Photo courtesy of Queensberry Promotions |
Almost immediately it was clear that the rematch would be far different than their first fight. Where Dubois was practically paralyzed by Usyk's mesmeric footwork in their first outing, on Saturday, he went hunting for him. He was going to lead with power shots. He wanted to flush Usyk out of the center of the ring and let his big hands do the talking.
And while Saturday's fight only
lasted five rounds, the reason that Usyk had to sit down more on his power
shots is because Dubois forced him to. Dubois was landing hard right hands,
Usyk needed to return the favor with left hand counters, notably at the end of
the second round and in the last minute of the third.
In the final sequences of the
fight on Saturday, Dubois had Usyk close to the ropes and was charging forward
behind right hands. Usyk then uncorked a menacing counter right hook to the top of Dubois' head for the first knockdown of the fight. Upon beating the count, Dubois wasn't interested in taking a step back
to regroup. Within seconds, a wild exchange ensued with both guys throwing big
shots. Usyk evaded a right hand and with Dubois out of position, he unfurled a vicious rear left hook. Fight over.
Over two fights, Usyk has proven that he has mastered Dubois in the ring. However, he really needed to dig into his bag
of trick to get there on Saturday. For instance, in many of Usyk's heavyweight fights, he
rarely featured his right hook. Yet on Saturday, this punch was required. And
it wasn't because he was just having fun in the ring; he had to neutralize a charging, confident Dubois.
Usyk so often has
won at heavyweight by hunting and pecking, a jab here, a
touch left hand there. His punches weren't always thrown with spite or malice. But
on Saturday, Usyk dispensed with pleasantries. He understood this wouldn't be
a fight won by cute ring generalship, angles, and feints. No, here he needed
thunder. And he produced it.
I think that Usyk answered any final lingering questions about him as a heavyweight on Saturday. He has more than enough power
to get the job done. And more specifically, he's not afraid of using that
power, of going for it. Saturday's victory was not one of guile. He won a
mano-a-mano battle with one of the biggest punchers in the heavyweight
division. He had the better accuracy and the larger punch variety when it
counted. The final punch was also a perfect encapsulation of Usyk's skill in
the ring. He made Dubois miss by evasive maneuvers and then ended things with a
rear hook. He didn't doubt if that was the right punch at the right time; he
threw it with maximum ferocity.
Usyk's journey through
cruiserweight and heavyweight has been a thrilling ride of triumph over different
styles. He's beaten huge punchers (Gassiev, Joshua, Dubois), technical boxers (Hunter, Briedis, Fury), and awkward guys with power
(Glowacki, Huck). He's had fights where he's led wire-to-wire, where he was
down and needed to come on strong in the second half, and where he needed to
change the direction of the fight after ceding control. What remains is 24-0
with 15 knockouts, and more importantly, 13-0 in world championship
fights.
I've probably run out of superlatives regarding Usyk. I've written at length about his intestinal fortitude, his self-belief, his technical skills, his supreme ring IQ, and other factors. But it was nice to see him slug it out on Saturday, to remind everyone that he's much more than technical wizardry. Along with his superior set of skills, he can get nasty. And it was a great lesson to those who think bull rushing Usyk is the way to go. If he is threatened, his self-preservation will kick in, and that's not going to wind up well for the opponent. There's a reason why Fury and Joshua didn't want to stir this beast with frenetic action. They saw what could happen, even if they chose not to articulate it in interviews. They were more measured. They made it 12. Dubois ignored the warnings. He got splattered.
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