As fans have no doubt read, the rematch between rival heavyweight champions, Oleksandr Usyk, WBA, WBC, WBO, and Daniel Dubois, IBF, will go ahead on July 19th, at Wembley Stadium. This is of course a huge fight, especially for British boxing, the fight to become the first ever undisputed world heavyweight title fight fought on British soil.
Usyk, who said with a smile, “Thank you, Daniel, for taking care of my IBF belt – now I want to get it back,” will have a chance to become a two-time four-belt heavyweight king. Dubois, who still insists he was robbed of a win when he fought Usyk in Poland in August of 2023, said he will “Not make a mistake in front of my people at the national stadium in my hometown.”
Dubois is still adamant he legitimately KO’d Usyk with ‘that” body shot/low blow in the 2023 fight.
The rematch is of course an interesting fight, and a sell-out at Wembley is entirely possible. But some fans feel one man who hasn’t got his shot but should have, and should be fighting Usyk next instead of Dubois, is Joseph Parker. Parker is a most deserving challenger, no doubt about it, and he should have fought Dubois a while back, in February, only for Dubois to fall ill with a virus. Now, Parker, the WBO mandatory challenger, has remained as such, this confirmed by WBO president Gustavo Olivieri.
“The division will once again crown an undisputed champion, elevating the sport and its athletes to the highest standard,” the WBO president wrote on social media. “It is further clarified that Joseph Parker’s mandatory status is upheld, and he remains next in the rotation system following the unification.”
So, the winner of the July 19 return fight between Usyk and Dubois must fight Parker next or vacate the WBO belt. If that happened, Parker, 36-3(24) would be elevated to full WBO champion. Parker wouldn’t want that, naturally, the New Zealander instead wants to fight the best and beat the best.
So, as much as Usyk-Dubois II is an interesting fight and rematch, the winner against Parker is more so in the opinion of plenty of fans.
Parker, on a real roll, is coming off big wins over Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and, last time out, Martin Bakole; who as we know came in at late notice for an ill Dubois. Some people feel Parker is the one man who can give Usyk real problems, perhaps even defeat him. Hopefully, we will get to see this fight. Unless, that is, Dubois gets his revenge over Usyk in July. In that case, it surely would be back to the fight we should have seen in February, between Parker and Dubois.