Fighting Ukraine's finest: Lerena predicts Usyk-Dubois 2 outcome
Usyk to fight Dubois on July 19 in London (collage: RBC-Ukraine)
South African boxer and world champion in the cruiserweight division, Kevin Lerena, who has fought Daniel Dubois before, shared his thoughts on the upcoming rematch between the British fighter and Ukrainian boxing star Oleksandr Usyk in his interview with iFL TV. Their bout is scheduled for July 19 at Wembley Stadium in London.
Usyk vs. Dubois 2: prediction by Kevin Lerena
Ahead of his fight against Lawrence Okolie, which will also take place on the same boxing night in London, Lerena assessed Usyk and Dubois' chances in what he called the "fight of the century."
"It's a 50/50 fight, and you might hear that a lot. People are saying it's a 50/50. Well, one's an extremely powerful concussive puncher. He's got a relatively good jab, and I think his confidence is at an all-time high. And one's a magician in there. Probably one of the greatest boxers, technicians of our era," the boxer said.
Kevin says, "If Daniel can't hurt Oleksandr within the first six to eight rounds, I think Usyk wins convincingly."
"But having said that, I think Daniel will be very dangerous for the first half of the fight. He can hit you, he can hurt you, and he's got a very nice, authoritative jab. Usyk needs to take that jab away and utilize that to counterpunch him. But how do I see the fight going? It's truly 50/50," he added.
It's worth noting that Lerena knows Dubois' capabilities well. In 2022, he knocked the Brit thrice but eventually lost by technical knockout.
Main facts about the Usyk vs. Dubois 2 fight
The rematch between Usyk and Dubois will occur on Saturday, July 19, at the legendary Wembley Stadium in London. The main event is expected to begin around 10:00 PM Kyiv time.
This will be the first fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship ever held in the United Kingdom.
Before the bout, Usyk holds the WBA, WBC, and WBO belts. The IBF belt belongs to the British fighter, as Usyk voluntarily vacated it a year ago.
In their first fight, which took place on August 26, 2023, in Wrocław, Usyk won by technical knockout in the ninth round.
However, the fight did not go without controversy. In the fifth round, Dubois landed a punch that caused the Ukrainian to go down to the canvas. The referee did not count it as a knockdown, ruling the blow as a low shot, although Dubois claimed it was clean. This led to a scandal, but the British team’s appeal did not change the result.
Earlier, despite his own achievements, Usyk admitted that another boxer is currently the best in the world.
Previously, we revealed how much Usyk will earn for the rematch with Dubois.
