David Haye gives Daniel Dubois blueprint to beat Oleksandr Usyk and tells Brit which boxer to copy
Usyk has two points victories over Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury in between a ninth-round stoppage victory over Dubois.
8
But before the fantastic five victories, Derek Chisora pushed Usyk all the way in their 2020 bout and lost a tight decision.
Haye - who managed Chisora at the time - warned Dubois must learn from Del Boy's aggression and do away with the tactics he, AJ and Fury deployed.
He told SunSport courtesy of Highbet: "No matter what your skillset is, you have to be able to work for every second of every round to win the majority of the rounds and up to this point, AJ or Fury wasn't able to go up in gears and really continue to push him.
"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.
"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.
8
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.
Watch Usyk vs Dubois 2 LIVE on DAZN
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
Dubois must be a 'crazy DEMON' to beat Usyk, says Chisora
How moving gyms sparked incredible change in Dubois
Inside Dubois' camp - fuelled by Ascot wins and ancient Greece
Amateur coach: Dubois so powerful as a teenager I had to tell him to go easy on the adults
Dubois SCREAMS in Usyk's face in bizarre face-off
Usyk warns Dubois his IQ is too much for the Brit
"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.
"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.
"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 - who knocked out Joshua in September - is in the prime of his life both mentally and physically.
He said: "Will Usyk be training for this fight like it's the toughest fight of his life?
"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
8
8
"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."
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
8
"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.
"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.
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.
"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."
8
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Martin's changes pay off as Gassama double eases Rangers past Viktoria Plzen
Russell Martin's bold team selection paid off as Rangers battered Viktoria Plzen 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie at Ibrox. Martin hit out at some of his squad following their deflating 1-1 draw at Motherwell on Saturday, questioning mentality, egos and application, and the captain James Tavernier and the midfielder Nicolas Raskin were the biggest names among the expected changes. Martin got the required reaction as the winger Djeidi Gassama scored after 15 minutes before the returning striker Cyriel Dessers added a second from the spot just before the interval. Gassama, signed this summer from Sheffield Wednesday, scored a third in the 51st minute to put the Govan side into a commanding lead and eventually a comfortable win. Rangers will be heavy favourites to progress to a playoff tie against Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg or Club Brugge of Belgium. After pointing the finger at his under performers at the weekend, all eyes were on Martin's team selection and he made significant changes. Along with Tavernier and Raskin – arguably their best player last season – Danilo and Kieran Dowell were left out. New signing Oliver Antman, the Finland winger who joined from Go Ahead Eagles on Monday, made his debut with left-back Jefté, midfielder Lyall Cameron and Dessers returning while John Souttar was named captain. The Ibrox crowd was more subdued than usual on a big European night, initially. In the seventh minute Plzen's lofty striker Rafiu Durosinmi headed a cross from Amar Memic past the post but it was Gassama who struck first, playing a one-two with Dessers at the edge of the visitors' box before confidently curling the ball past the goalkeeper Florian Wiegele. After the Rangers defender Nasser Djiga brilliantly blocked a goal-bound shot from the visiting captain Matej Vydra, Antman's drive from a Gassama cut-back at the other end was cleared off the line by Vaclav Jemelka. Bizarrely Raskin, warming up on the sidelines, was booked by the French referee Clément Turpin for apparently trying to interfere at a Plzen throw-in as the Czech side began to exert some pressure. However, when a driving run into the box by Antman ended with him being barged over by Vydra, Turpin pointed to the spot for a soft penalty and Dessers sent Wiegele the wrong way. Rangers started the second half strongly and within three minutes the midfielder Mohamed Diomande struck the bar with an effort from the edge of the box. However, the third soon arrived as Gassama grabbed his second when he bulleted in a header from a pinpoint Antman cross from the right to score his fourth goal in the last three European matches. Raskin, Danilo, and Tavernier all came off the bench when the job was done before the home keeper Jack Butland made a good save from a powerful drive from Memic.
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Cameron blocks out the noise to show his worth as Rangers' new boys inch club closer to the promised land
Lyall Cameron would have been well advised to stay off social media over the past couple of days given some of the pelters that have been coming his way courtesy of the keyboard warriors. It's safe to say the young midfielder hasn't endeared himself to fans of his former employers with his comments on how he's finding life having made the move up from a 'smaller club' like Dundee. Sure, he could have perhaps been a touch more careful in his choice of words, but that wasn't enough to let him off the hook in the eyes of some. Best stay out of the City of Discovery for a while, Lyall. The good news for the 22-year-old is that he looks right at home in Glasgow. He was one of a handful to get any sort of praise from manager Russell Martin following Saturday's dismal collective display against Motherwell. Considering he is the only one of nine new summer arrivals not to have been brought in by the new boss, he's certainly made an impression. Thrown in for his first start for the club on a huge European night in front of an expectant Ibrox crowd, he didn't look the least bit out of place. At the weekend, it was his attitude which caught Martin's eye. His determination to run himself into the ground for his team-mates. All of that was on full show once again here, but he offered far more than hard yards. More often that not, he was the one linking the play. Any possible early nerves were soon set aside with a thumping tackle to win back possession. Time and time again, he found pockets of space between the lines. The visitors had no idea how to pick him up. On this evidence, the once undroppable Nico Raskin might have a problem getting back into the team. One delicious pass in behind midway through an excellent first half set Djeidi Gassama free. Oliver Antman was unfortunate to see his first-time effort blocked on the line. The Finnish new boy — signed on Monday from Dutch outfit Go Ahead Eagles — provided a much-needed spark on Rangers' right-hand side. It was he who won the penalty which doubled his side's advantage, nicking the ball back on the edge of his own area before playing a one-two with Gassama and ending up being hauled down just as he was about to pull the trigger. His delivery for Gassama to head home the third was inch-perfect. Early days, of course, but he couldn't have asked for a much better start to his Rangers career. The Ibrox side — with Antman and Gassama on the flanks — look, at long last, to have some pace about them. Goodness knows they've needed it. Having Cyriel Dessers alongside them helped. The much-maligned front man — the only player to have attracted any interest this summer, according to his manager — is a big improvement on Danilo. The Brazilian has contributed next to nothing in three starts so far this term. Dessers got a goal and an assist within the first half alone. Of course, he'll never be good enough for many Rangers supporters, despite his outstanding goals return. But the club would be mad to let him go. Like it or not, he is far and away their best option up top. For the time being, at least. The overall performance from Rangers was night and day compared to what they offered up at Fir Park at the weekend. Martin's reading of the riot act worked a treat. Just as well, too. He put himself in a tricky position ahead of Tuesday's tie after hanging so many of his squad out to dry. Captain James Tavernier was one of four dropped. Max Aarons was dreadful at left-back throughout both legs against Panathinaikos. In his more natural position on the opposite side of defence, he looked far more assured. Rangers, as we've now come to expect under Martin in these early days, remain a tough watch when playing out from the back. You could genuinely hear the collective intake of breath every time Nasser Djiga or John Souttar had possession in their own third. Thankfully, both carried out their defensive duties to a tee. The former's outstanding block kept the scores level within the first 10 minutes. Who knows whether or not it would have been a different story had Matej Vydra's effort gone in. And quite honestly, who cares? Rangers are one step closer to the promised land.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Kick It Out say reports of abuse and discrimination in football is at record high
Football 's anti- discrimination charity Kick It Out received almost 1,400 reports of discrimination during the 2024-25 season, a record high. There were 1,398 reports of abuse, Kick It Out revealed, up from 1,332 in the 2023-24 campaign. The data shows a rise in sexism, transphobia, and faith-based abuse, with racism remaining the most reported form of discrimination. There was a big spike in sexism and misogyny, with the number of complaints rising by 67 per cent, with a rise also in youth football. Kick It Out chief executive Samuel Okafor said: 'These figures show that discrimination remains deeply embedded across the game, but the rise in abuse in youth football should be a wake-up call. 'No one should be facing hostility simply for taking part. 'What we're seeing now is that fans aren't just reporting abuse, they're demanding action. There's been a clear shift this season in how people are calling out sexist behaviour, both online and in stadiums, and asking football to treat it as seriously as any other form of hate.' 'At the same time, it's clear that online platforms are still falling short. The volume of abuse remains high, and too often, those responsible face no consequences. 'Fans are doing their part by speaking up. It's now up to football authorities, tech companies and government to show they're listening, and to act.' During Euro 2025, Lionesses defender Jess Carter was sent 'vile' and 'abhorrent' racist abuse online following their quarter-final win over Sweden. The Football Association (FA) confirmed they were working with UK police and the relevant social media platforms, while Carter said she would 'a step back' from social media as a result of the abuse she has received throughout the tournament. In May, Kick It Out has called on the football authorities to show 'solidarity and support' to the trans community after the English and Scottish governing bodies banned transgender women from the competitive female game. The football associations updated their policies in light of last month's ruling from the UK Supreme Court, which clarified that the word 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act meant biological sex. Previously, transgender women had been able to compete provided they reduced testosterone to accepted levels. The FA's new policy came into effect on June 1.
