The eagerly awaited unified heavyweight title fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois has been rescheduled, now planned for August 26 at Stadion Wroclaw in Wroclaw, Poland. This postponement from the initial August 12 date was confirmed by Alex Krassyuk, Usyk’s career-long promoter, who aims to align the event with Ukraine Independence Day, August 24. The chosen venue, located in a region densely populated by Ukrainians, anticipates a crowd of 24,000.
Usyk, the WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight titleholder, will be making his second title defense in this much-anticipated fight. He initially won the titles in September 2021 after defeating Anthony Joshua in North London. Their rematch in August 2020 saw Usyk retain his titles despite a controversially scored split decision.
The showdown against Dubois, who holds the WBA ‘Regular’ heavyweight title, came into focus following the breakdown of negotiations for a championship clash with Tyson Fury, the lineal/WBC heavyweight champion. An $8,057,000 bid from Krassyuk during a May 25 purse bid hearing secured the fight. Usyk and Dubois are set to receive 75% and 25% of the winning bid, respectively, as per WBA standards.
The fight’s outcome will streamline the WBA heavyweight title, abolishing the ‘Regular’ belt in line with the sanctioning body's ongoing title reduction campaign. The chosen venue, Stadion Wroclaw, which opened in 2011 with a boxing event, is set to host its fourth boxing show with the Usyk-Dubois fight.
Image Credit: DAZN