𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Daniel Dubois acknowledged his best was not good enough after his undisputed world heavyweight dreams went up in smoke with a fifth-round stoppage loss at Wembley thanks to Oleksandr Usyk’s “Ivan” punch.

Usyk had shown his class against the 27-year-old from London during a one-sided contest in Krakow in 2023, where Dubois was adjudged to have landed an illegal low blow in round five, but the Ukrainian had been warned throughout fight week to expect a “different” opponent this time.

Yet, Usyk (24-0, 15KOs) proved too strong for Dubois (22-3, 21KOs) once again.

After the former undisputed cruiserweight champion had got the better of the opening four rounds, he produced a masterful fifth-round finish to further cement his status as one of the sport’s all-time greats.

After Dubois was put down by a powerful right punch, the British boxer bravely made it back to his feet.

He was floored again a matter of seconds later by a huge left hit to taste defeat for a third time in his professional career.

It earned Usyk his 24th win and a seventh in a row against fighters from this country to ensure he got his hands back on the IBF title to add to his WBA, WBO and WBC belts as he became undisputed in the blue riband division for a second time.

Dubois said: “I have to commend him on his performance. I gave everything I had, probably a few things I could have sharpened up on, but take no credit away from the man.

“I was just fighting, I was in a fight and trying to pick up round by round. It is what it is, but I’ll be back.

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“I want to thank everyone for coming out. I gave my best, we’ll go back to the drawing board and come again.”

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Usyk later revealed the money shot was not a left hook but a punch titled “Ivan” by the 38-year-old, who again went up a level in a rematch like he also showed against Dubois’ compatriots Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

“Listen, we prepare for this fight with my team. We learn from first fight, we have a long time, two years, and we prepare a combination. You know the punch name Ivan,” Usyk revealed.

“Left hook? A hook is like this (gesture), that is Ivan. It is Ukrainian name. Ivan is you know a big guy, who lives in a village, he is Kozak, you say, ‘what is your name?’ And he says, ‘my name is Ivan,’.

“Yeah, it is a hard, hard punch, Ivan. It is a long time. Maybe first time is 2018? Yeah, first time. It was USA in cruiserweight.

“Now I want to go back home, now I want to do a choice over what next. I will continue in boxing, I will continue in training, but now I cannot say who next.”

This vintage Usyk victory meant he enjoyed more English capital success after he claimed Olympic gold at the London Games in 2012 and four years ago clinched his first world heavyweight belts in a points victory over Anthony Joshua at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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However, quizzed on if he agreed that he was one of the greatest of all-time, Usyk smirked: “Ha, no.

“For me, UK is like a second home because this I take all my trophy. European (amateur) champion (in Liverpool), London 2012, Tony Bellew, Dereck Chisora, Anthony Joshua, three-time undisputed Dubois, I am very grateful for this country.”

Queensberry promoter Frank Warren added: “We witnessed one of the true modern-day legends tonight in action.

“Oleksandr Usyk for me is a heavyweight in any generation that would be an outstanding fighter. I take my hat off to him in how he coped, how he showed such mental resilience in someone’s back yard, he is something special. He is a special fighter.”

“Daniel is obviously very disappointed, he is in the dressing room at the moment but he will come back.”

PA