Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois 2 Betting Tips
All the marbles are on the line in a historic night at Wembley on Saturday as the United Kingdom hosts its first-ever undisputed heavyweight title fight.
Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) has already secured himself as a generational great, which he will look to rubberstamp when he meets Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) in a rematch.
A crowd of over 90,000 will be in attendance as the Ukrainian puts his WBA, WBC and WBO titles on the line while Dubois puts up the IBF title he acquired when vacated by Usyk ahead of his rematch with Tyson Fury.
Tip 1 – Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois not to go the distance @ 3/5
The first fight between these two lasted nine rounds but is best remembered for the moment in the fifth where Dubois dropped Usyk with a body shot which landed around the beltline and was deemed low by the Puerto Rican referee Luis Pabon.
The waistline blow was debated across the boxing world; Usyk took three minutes and 45 seconds to return to action and eventually wore the British fighter down, dropping him in the eighth round before ending it in the ninth.
The Ukrainian had won almost every round, being at his evasive best for most of the fight.
However, there were moments for Dubois beyond the low blow, where despite losing rounds he stayed in the fight and remained competitive, enjoying brief moments of success.
Since then Usyk has faced Tyson Fury twice, winning both gruelling encounters on the scorecards and ending the Brit’s undefeated 35-fight record in the process.
Dubois has grown in stature under the continued tutelage of Don Charles, stopping Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua.
The now 27-year-old produced a stunning display that night at Wembley, knocking the former unified champion down four times before he was counted out in the fifth.
However, as Fury, Joshua and Dubois himself found that night 23 months ago in Poland, Usyk is a hard man to land fight-altering volume on.
Full of confidence from his wrecking machine display over Joshua, Dubois is promising to bring chaos early.
It will have big implications for the longevity of this fight should he choose to start fast but, either way, at some point Dubois knows he will have to gamble and try to stop Usyk if he is to come away victorious.
Tip 2 – Oleksandr Usyk to win & over 8.5 rounds in fight @ 5/4
Dubois will be hoping his Wembley win over Joshua was the perfect dress rehearsal for a historic win.
Usyk, though, is the ultimate road warrior and has also found his second home in the UK, winning an early amateur tournament in Liverpool before the glory of London 2012 and professional wins over Tony Bellew, Derek Chisora and Joshua on these shores.
Even the most casual boxing fan can appreciate his brilliance, having shared 48 rounds between his unbeaten double headers with Joshua and Tyson Fury.
In those fights, Usyk has shown he is the master at breaking his opponents' momentum.
When a fight looks to have started to turn, Usyk fires back, producing round-winning combinations which he often rubberstamps in the next round, leaving his opponent searching for a fresh grip in the fight.
At 38 there could be signs of Usyk’s feet slowing. With Dubois 11 years his junior, and adding the big fight experience he was severely lacking in the pair's first fight in Poland, he could well increase his chances.
However, Usyk has the skill and IQ to ride the storm and take over the fight, which could see a similar ending to the first match-up, where an exhausted Dubois had nothing left to give.
Tip 3 – Lawrence Okolie to beat Kevin Lerena by KO, TKO or DQ @ Evens
Lawrence Okolie (21-1, 16 KOs) looks to make a statement on this prime slot ahead of Saturday night’s main event against South African Kevin Lerena (31-3, 15 KOs).
The British fighter has had back-to-back first-round wins since moving up from cruiserweight after losing his WBO title on the scorecards to Chris Billam-Smith.
First, the 32-year-old stopped Lukasz Rozanski in the first round at bridgerweight before moving to heavyweight and doing the same to Hussein Muhamed in December.
Lerena is best known for putting Dubois down three times in the first round of their 2022 contest, before the British fighter rallied and had Larena down twice in the third before the fight was stopped.
Since the Dubois fight Larena has fought twice more at heavyweight, losing a unanimous decision to Justis Huni last March before knocking out Serhiy Radchenko in May.
Both men are former cruiserweights and, while Okolie has fully committed to heavyweight, Larena is still dipping in and out of the division and fighting at bridgeweight.
Often receiving criticism for his spoiling tactics, Okolie is reinventing himself under Joe Gallagher in Manchester and, although we’ve not seen much ringtime, looks big and powerful as a heavyweight.
Okolie has an 8½in reach advantage here and could be as much as 30lbs heavier than Larena.
Although Larena has good speed and technical ability, Okolie can impose himself and get the job done inside the distance.
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change