Daniel Dubois is not getting involved in the war of the minds ahead of his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
The pair will face off on July 19 at London’s Wembley Stadium after a controversial first encounter. Usyk stopped Dubois, but the Englishman’s team argued that the contest should have come to a halt in the fifth round, when the Ukrainian spent over three minutes on the canvas.
Dubois landed a heavy blow on the belt of Usyk; the shot was ruled a low blow by the referee and the Ukrainian was allowed to take his time to recover. Dubois and his team argued that the shot was legal and that Usyk should have been counted out.
Heading into the rematch, Usyk presented Dubois with pamphlets at the launch press conference that displayed the legal areas in which boxers are permitted to land punches on their opponents. The Ukrainian also offered four of Dubois’ team the opportunity to meet with four of his team after the fight for street brawl in the center of London.
“Psychological warfare, innit? Yeah, that's him,” Dubois told select members of the press. “He's always in that. I think he's a boring guy. He'll just be at home getting his mind shit. You've got to just beat him in the ring. It's all psychological. When they feel the real pain and the heat, then you can break through that. Power of God on your side, you can do anything.
“I don't think he can handle the pain or the heat that I'm going to bring. I'm going to just step up and win. That's the whole game plan. Win, points, knockout, anything. Win.”
Tensions are high heading into the rematch after the recent comments and controversy surrounding the low blow. Dubois, uncharacteristically, lashed out and pushed Usyk during a head-to-head on the pitch at Wembley Stadium.
“One of them things, if you get angry or something, it just happens in boxing,” Dubois said of the push. “Yeah, it just happens. I want to put my hands on him properly on the 19th and then show everyone.”
Dubois, however, plans to keep a calm head when the pair meet in the ring in July.
“It's always going to be tense in a fight,” he said. “It's not just plain old hatred. It's got to be smart, got to be intelligent, but it's tension. I don't overdo it. It's just, yeah, we're fighting to put the past right, clear up the controversy.”