David Haye gives Daniel Dubois blueprint to beat Oleksandr Usyk and tells Brit which boxer to copy
Advertisement
8
Oleksandr Usyk facing off with Daniel Dubois
Credit: EPA
But before the fantastic five victories,
Haye - who managed Chisora at the time - warned
He told SunSport courtesy of
"He kind of said pulled away in those fights. So if Tyson Fury and AJ had worked as hard as Derek worked, for instance, in terms of engine letting his hands go, not having to sort of conserve energy and bounce around the ring and get into that boxing zone which Usyk is a master of, I think he's right.
Advertisement
"I think they would have won another two or three rounds maybe which might have been enough to win the fight.
"But if you look at Derek Chisora's fight with Usyk and I think I've heard Usyk on a couple of occasions say that was my hardest fight and it wasn't because Derek tried to match him for skills.
"Derek matched him for pace and he made Usyk fight his fight which is a close, rough and tough push and pull, exhausting fight.
"And Usyk never had that really not at that pace. I think Usyk only won the fight by two rounds so I was there ringside. At the time, a lot of people thought Derek won the fight.
Advertisement
Most read in Boxing
Exclusive
8
USYK VS DUBOIS 2: Stream, TV channel and undercard info for blockbuster Wembley fight
CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
Advertisement
Usyk vs Dubois 2 - All the info
OLEKSANDR USYK and Daniel Dubois meet again in a blockbuster heavyweight unification fight at Wembley Stadium THIS SATURDAY!
Usyk won the first fight in August 2023 via a ninth round KO - but only after Dubois knocked him to the canvas with a body blow that was ruled a low blow.
Dubois, 27, has improved massively since that first meeting, reeling off stunning wins over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the big fight...
INFO
All the info for Usyk vs Dubois 2
Latest ticket availability and price
How much are Usyk and Dubois earning for the rematch?
Get either fighter at 50/1 to win with talkSPORT BET
LATEST NEWS, EXCLUSIVES & FEATURES
"As time goes by, people say it was an easy win, it wasn't. Go back and watch that fight and at the end of the fight he wasn't sure whether he won or lost the fight and it's down to Derek's strategy that he had going into the fight.
"Not playing Usyk's game, the game that Daniel Dubois played to a T for Usyk the first time they fought.
David Haye was told Dubois would be heavyweight champion at just 13
"When they first fought Usyk did exactly what he always does when his opponents show him too much respect and they try and sort of ease their way into the fight.
"Usyk is so technically gifted that Dubois didn't show Usyk anything he hasn't seen before and it made it - pretty much outside of the sort of semi-low blow whatever you however you see it - it was in full control from Usyk.
Advertisement
"But off the strength of Dubois' last fight against Anthony Joshua, he showed a lot more of the mindset that you need to beat Usyk, which is don't play the long game, the long range game, get inside, use your physical attributes."
Usyk admits he is entering the first of his final two fights after Olympic gold medal and undisputed titles at two weights.
Whereas Haye believes 27-year-old Dubois -
He said: "Will Usyk be training for this fight like it's the toughest fight of his life?
Advertisement
"Will he be training for this fight as hard as he trained for the Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua fights? Probably, but how many times can you have a training camp?
8
Usyk beat Dubois in Poland in 2023
Credit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
8
This was the infamous low-blow
Credit: TNT
8
Dubois was stopped in round nine
Credit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
Advertisement
"How many times can you do a 12-round training camp with all the sparring and all the injuries that come with it?
"He's 38 years old. A lot of amateur fights, high-level international Olympics, World Championships.
"He's been there, seen it, done it, so at some stage you go to the well and it's not as full as it was the time before, the fight before and he's had those four massive unification fights with Fury and Joshua.
"I think Usyk is gonna have to have the fight of his life. If the right version of Dubois turns up, a version of Dubois that we saw in his last fight, the performance against AJ, he stuck to his game plan, he did what he needed to do and he was able to win the fight."
Advertisement
Dethroning Usyk and handing the Ukrainian icon his first defeat would rank as one of British boxing's greatest wins in the eyes of Haye.
He said: "It'd be one of the best wins on paper and in reality.
"Although if Usyk does come out and he gets steamrolled, is he getting steamrolled because Dubois is that much better?
8
Usyk beat Derek Chisora on points
Credit: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
Advertisement
8
Chisora believed he won the fight
Credit: Dave Thompson Matchroom Boxing
"Or is it because he's now 38 and that wouldn't have happened when he was 32, 33?
"Every boxer gets to the stage where they think they've got everything they once had but you don't know it until you're out there under the lights.
"Every great fighter, Roy Jones, Sugar Shane Mosley, Muhammad Ali, every great fighter can go from being an all-time great to losing to somebody who is so much less experienced or even technically gifted because of the physical side.
Advertisement
"You can have all the skills in the world, if you don't have the machine, the body to implement it there's a tipping point and I think we're getting close to Usyk's tipping point.
"You may be able to hold it together for another fight, maybe two. I don't know but he do ten more like that because the next generation are getting bigger and stronger and younger and more experienced.
"So when is that point where his physical ability can't keep up with his technical boxing brain?"
Haye knows Dubois is up against it - but reckons destiny is on his side.
Advertisement
He said: "He is a massive underdog in this fight. There's no reason why he shouldn't be an underdog.
"I just think everything's set for him to shine and if there's ever a chance for Dubois to become undisputed champion, it's Saturday night.
Read more on the Irish Sun
"He's got to be willing to take some stick, take a left hand down the pipe from time to time but he's got to get close, watch the Derek Chisora fight on what to do when you get in close.
"Rough and tough, push him, if you've got to lose a couple of points because you're hitting him in the back of the head or the kidneys, whatever it is it's life and death and you've got to find a way to win."
Advertisement
8
David Haye is backing Dubois to beat Usyk
Credit: PA
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
27 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
'It was a bit of a shock': Thomas Clarkson blocks out social backlash after Lions come calling
It is an indictment of social media and society in general that Thomas Clarkson's first act as a British & Irish Lion was to disconnect from it. For many of those who can remember the pre-internet age, the idea of withdrawing from the online world would be some kind of nirvana but if you are 24-years-old and that is the only life you have known then it is a different decision to have to make. Such is the life of a professional athlete, whose career-transforming moment at being called up to the Lions tour in Australia was accompanied by the trolling of disgruntled online users upset by the selection ahead of whoever they believed was more suited for the role. On Tuesday at Marvel Stadium, as Clarkson replaced fellow Irishman Finlay Bealham on 50 minutes to become British & Irish Lion number 886, the tighthead prop justified his selection as a squad member head coach Andy Farrell insisted was '100% the next cab on the rank' to join an elite band of 2025 tourists. Read More Donal Lenihan: Schmidt and Wallabies have enough to cling onto to ensure Melbourne storm 'If anyone's seen how he's performed over the last six months, they'll see why,' the Lions boss said of Clarkson. Eight Ireland caps, four of them in this season's Six Nations, including a start against Wales in a Triple Crown-sealing victory is why, with Clarkson having further enhanced his reputation, on home soil at least, with ownership of Leinster's number three jersey in all three of his province's URC knockout games in their run to the title. The evidence was not enough to stop the online naysayers, although Clarkson did not allow himself to be sucked in. 'I tried to stay away from it, to be honest,' he said. 'I feel like the last few weeks in Leinster, before the semi-final, was fairly negative. I think just kind of trying to use that as a bit of motivation. I knew, just because Jamie (Osborne) got called in right before me, there was a bit of backlash to that. 'I knew it was going to be even more when I got the nod. So yeah, I just tried to stay away from it. 'Yeah, it was a bit of a shock at the start, to be honest. Obviously, like, you grow up using social media. So it was hard to step away from it. But I just had to get rid of a lot of that. I just use Instagram now.' The Lions' Thomas Clarkson celebrates with his father Finbarr after the game against the First Nations & Pasifika XV. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan Six months ago, Clarkson had been an uncapped Ireland training panelist, invited into camp by Farrell ahead of an Autumn Nations Series last November that saw him earn his Test debut off the bench at Aviva Stadium against Argentina. The British & Irish Lions were not remotely on his radar. 'Not a hope. I only went in as a training panelist in November. I wasn't even really expecting to play in that. So to get a cap I was delighted. 'The Six Nations, I was happy enough with how it went, I wouldn't have said I set the world alight or anything. To then play well for Leinster at the end of the season and come in here, it's pretty mad. 'Crazy. Pretty unbelievable stuff. But I'm happy. Probably, I benefited from Tadhg (Furlong) being injured at the end of the season, definitely benefited from that. 'But I'd like to think I took the opportunity.' With Furlong and Bealham away on tour with the Lions, Clarkson believed his big opportunity was coming in Ireland's summer matches in Georgia and Portugal, both of which he started, scoring his maiden Test try in the 106-7 rout of the Portuguese on July 12. Then came the text from Farrell and a nudge from interim head coach Paul O'Connell. 'I found out three o'clock in the morning after the Portugal game. We were on a night out, I had to go home straight away. But yeah, some text to get. 'It was like: 'ring me when you're awake', so I said 'oh yeah, grand'. Then Paulie rang me and was like, 'ring him right now'. So yeah, I had to just compose myself and go outside. 'I told Jack Boyle and then just legged it.' Eleven days later and Clarkson is a Lion, coming on against the First Nations & Pasifika XV in Melbourne and just about coming out on the right side of a 24-19 victory in the final midweek game of the tour. 'It was good,' he said, 'I felt like I was chasing my tail a little bit. But happy enough with the scrum and I made a few tackles. It was a good start. 'It's a fairly similar system to Leinster in Ireland, so it was just getting a handle on what the actual names were. But in terms of what I'm doing, I'm pretty used to it. 'I felt bad for the Scottish fellas coming in. They only got in on Sunday night, thrown in, having never played that way before. I was in a better place than them.' Likely to be one and done with the Lions with only the second and third Tests against Australia to come on tour, Clarkson could well find himself on a plane home before the week is out alongside the Scottish quartet Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Gregor Brown and Darcy Graham, their roles fulfilled after taking the pressure off the likely Test starters. His long season at an end and he is honest enough to be not thinking about the next campaign just yet. 'To be honest, I'm kind of excited for the break more than... Once the break's done, then I'll start thinking about cracking on. Obviously, Tadhg and Finlay are about here, so I'm not going to be guaranteed you go back and play, even with Ireland. 'Just looking forward to the challenge of cracking into it.' He has allowed himself to think about a return to Australia, however, with Ireland set to return for the 2027 World Cup here. 'Definitely. I'll go back, try and break into Ireland properly, consistently in the 23 and go from there. But like I said, it's going to be a massive challenge. I'm not just going to walk back in. 'It's going to be the two lads who are there. I need to get in the mix with them.'
RTÉ News
27 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
'This year it's gone very well'- Italian call a distant memory for new Lion Thomas Clarkson
As Thomas Clarkson stood in Melbourne's Marvel Stadium, clutching his newly minted British and Irish Lions cap, he reflected on a sliding doors moment from two years earlier. Fun fact: The 25-year-old's full name is actually Tommaso Clarkson, with his mother Nina Cafolla coming from a small town between Rome and Naples. At the start of the 2023/24 season, the Italians came calling. Clarkson turned down the offer, but with the tighthead prop yet to get his full break at Leinster, his qualification to play for Italy was kept in his back pocket, just in case. "They came looking for me, but I'd just signed a new contract with Leinster," he said, after making his Lions debut against the First Nations and Pasifika XV on Tuesday night. "I didn't end it. I thought it could be open at some point down the line, but obviously, this year it's gone very well." It's been a fast 12 months for Clarkson. A run of games to start the season, and injuries elsewhere, saw him brought into the Ireland squad for the first time in November as a training panellist, before he was retained after the training camp and impressed in two appearances off the bench against Argentina and Fiji. More big appearances came in the Champions Cup, and four more Irish caps followed in the Six Nations, before he produced arguably his best Leinster performance in their URC final win against the Bulls, a game he says was the moment where he believes he arrived. "It all kind of just clicked [that day] and then kept that momentum going," he said. "That was the first game when I was like, 'that was a proper performance'." He thought he finished the season with two more Irish caps against Georgia and Portugal, scoring a try in the second of those wins, and it was while celebrating that win with a few beers in the early hours of the morning in Lisbon that he received an urgent message from Andy Farrell. "It was like: 'ring me when you're awake', so I said 'oh yeah, grand'. Then Paulie [Paul O'Connell] rang me and was like, 'ring him right now!' "So yeah, I had to just compose myself and go outside. "I told Jack Boyle and then just legged it." His dream Lions call-up wasn't met with universal warmth outside of Ireland, mainly due to the him being the 18th Ireland international drafted in by Farrell on this tour, and the third tighthead prop. Farrell made a point of namechecking Clarkson (above) after last night's game, insisting he was very much the "next cab on the rank" when he was called into the group, and the player says that message has been drilled into him by the coaching staff. "It wasn't a kind of 'nepo' selection if you'd call it that," Clarkson added. "It was just nice to hear going into it. We were bouncing into the game. "I benefited from Tadhg [Furlong] being injured at the end of the season, definitely benefited from that. "But I'd like to think I took the opportunity. "I've been kind of understudied to Tadhg for a good few years now. He's consistently been probably the best tighthead in the world over the last few years. "It's been unbelievable being there, just around him. "Rabah's [Rabah Slimani] come in, probably offered something a bit different, where he's 100% scrum. "Tadhg obviously has an array of different stuff that he brings to it. Whereas Rabah, when you're scrumming against him in training, it's all or nothing against him." While the breaks have fallen his way this season, he served a long apprenticeship at the province, in large part down to playing behind Furlong, as well as Michael Ala'alatoa in previous years. Remarkably, he was lining out for Blackrock College in Division 1B of the Energia All-Ireland League as recently as January 2024. Asked if he though playing for the Lions was on the cards even six months ago, he admitted "not a hope!". "I made my Leinster debut five years ago now, so I've been waiting a long time," he said. "The fact that when it has come, it's all come at once is a bit crazy. Because I went through a good few years of not getting a sniff in at all really. So yeah, it's mad. "I put a lot of work into getting it, so any time I did get a shot, there was a whole lot of work behind it. So it felt like it just kind of rolled into another. "Once I got a foot in the door, I think I was trying to open it fully." Barring a couple of injuries, it's likely Clarkson has now finally finished his gruelling, 27-game season, and will head home with something to remember it by. "It's crazy, 886," he says, repeating the number stitched into his red and gold Lions cap after Tuesday's win. "I didn't even know they did caps if you don't play in the Test. It's some energy."
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Derek Chisora says Jake Paul is doing ‘great things for boxing' but pleads with him NOT to fight Anthony Joshua
DEREK CHISORA says Jake Paul is doing great things for boxing - but warned him not to risk it by fighting Anthony Joshua. The YouTuber-turned-prizefighter's legions of fans have followed his boxing journey and hopefully become new fans of the sport. 6 Derek Chisora warned Jake Paul not to fight Anthony Joshua 6 Joshua is in shock talks to fight Jake Paul Credit: Getty 6 Jake Paul pictured at Wembley Stadium Credit: Getty He has 12 wins and just a sole defeat - against Paul beat former middleweight champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, 39, in June and The American made his heavyweight debut last November for a controversial spectacle bout against Mike Tyson - who returned aged 58. And although he won over eight, shorter two-minute rounds with over 100 MILLION watching on Netflix - READ MORE IN BOXING He said on SunSport's "Listen, Jake Paul is doing so many great things for boxing, I don't care what anybody he says. He should fight Roy Jones next. "I would tell him not to fight Joshua. Because Joshua would actually smoke him out for the sake of it. "I'd tell him, you've got a good thing going on fight Roy Jones, fight Floyd Mayweather, fight all these guys. Don't fight AJ." Most read in Boxing 6 CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Joshua, 35, is coming off a September knockout loss to Daniel Dubois, 27, and had elbow surgery ahead of his return to the ring. But he has been in a Tense moment Jake Paul squares up to Oleksandr Usyk in ring after heavyweight champion's win over Daniel Dubois AJ's promoter Eddie Hearn is keen for talks with Paul's promotional partner Nakisa Bidarian. Already Paul has met with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh in New York Alalshikh was once critical of Paul's boxing career and opponents - but the two appear to have made amends. And Chisora added: "I remember when Turki Alalshikh said he's not promoting YouTube boxing. "I thought, why did you say that? Doesn't he know the force of these young guys; Jake Paul, KSI, Logan Paul, Speed. "These guys are mega Gods in the YouTube game. They don't need anybody. Fast forward later on, he's taking photos with Jake Paul, KSI, Speed. "He realised he can't beat these young kids. So what do you do? You join them because they're on fire." 6 Turki Alalshikh pictured with Jake Paul Credit: @Turki_alalshikh 6 Anthony Joshua with Jake Paul in 2022
