Revenge is something that every professional athlete desires. When they are lucky enough to get it, that’s the sweetest victory to ever be had in most cases. IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois is so caught up in getting his revenge against WBC, WBO and IBO champion Oleksandr Usyk that he’s completely overlooking his scheduled title defense against the dangerous former WBO champion Joseph Parker on February 22nd.
After Usyk retained his titles in his rematch against Tyson Fury, Dubois came into the ring after the fight and confronted Usyk. Dubois made a clear message to Usyk in the ring.
“I want my revenge! I want my revenge, Usyk,” Dubois said. “Well done tonight. God bless, but I want my revenge. Let’s get it! Let’s go!” said Daniel Dubois when he entered the ring during Usyk’s post-fight interview.
Unfazed by the interaction, Usyk seemed to take it in stride and made a request to Turki. “Mr Excellency, Your Excellency. Make me fight with Daniel Dubois. Thank you so much,” replied Usyk for Turki Alalshikh to arrange for the match.
Daniel Dubois just crashed Oleksandr Usyk’s victory speech calling for a rematch ????pic.twitter.com/5DuBgNNy6m
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) December 21, 2024
Dubois the real winner?
There’s a big argument that Dubois knocked out Usyk in their bout on August 26, 2003, when Dubois caught Usyk in the 5th round on the beltline and dropped the champion. That punch was ruled as a low despite replays showing that the punch was legal. The referee gave Usyk almost five minutes to recover. Usyk used that time to his advantage and stormed back to stop Dubois in the 9th round. Since then, this bout of revenge has been on Dubois’s mind as he’s gone on to collect the IBF heavyweight championship.
Understandably we get why Dubois wants another crack at Usyk but as eager as he is to get another shot. It won’t happen if he overlooks a motivated Parker who is trying to get back to being a champion himself. It’s very wise that Dubois maintains as much focus on Parker who’s been very hot. He’s 5-0 in his last five bouts with career-saving wins against Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. This isn’t going to be an easy fight whatsoever. Revenge is something that’s going to have to wait for Dubois.
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Robert LaMar is a writer for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X via @RobertLaMar26
