DANIEL DUBOIS nearly sparked a premature Wembley brawl with Oleksandr Usyk by PUSHING his heavyweight rival.
The pair faced off at the home of English football on Monday morning for the first time since the announcement of their July joust.
RICHARD PELHAM / QUEENSBERRY PROMOTIONS
Daniel Dubois and Oleksandr Usyk faced off at Wembley on Monday to promote their July joust[/caption]
X@QUEENSBERRYDubois upped the ante by shoving the unified heavyweight champion[/caption]
X@QUEENSBERRYSecurity quickly intervened to stop a brawl from breaking out[/caption]
They intensely stared at one another in the centre circle before Dubois upped the ante by SHOVING the former undisputed heavyweight champion.
Pound-for-pound king Usyk, 38, reacted by getting in a fighting stance.
But security promptly jumped between the pair to ensure they didn’t prematurely trade blows on the hallowed Wembley turf.
Boxing fans were quick to comment on the argy-bargy, with one writing on X: “Dubois flinched.”
Another said: “Usyk just smiles back. This will be a good fight.”
And another said: “He’s definitely scared as f**k.”
One remarked: “Pushed him and then proceeded to s**t himself when Usyk moved towards him.”
Dubois and Usyk locked horns with one another in the unified heavyweight title showdown in Poland in August 2023.
GETTYDaniel Dubois and Oleksandr Usyk first locked horns with one another in August 2023[/caption]
Undefeated Ukrainian Usyk won their Polish punch-up via ninth-round TKORICHARD PELHAM
Usyk retained the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring heavyweight titles with a ninth-round stoppage.
Dubois thought he was on his way to winning the fight in the fifth round when he dropped Usyk with a thudding body shot.
But referee Luis Pabon deemed the punch to be a low blow and gave Usyk the allotted five minutes to recover.
Pabon, however, controversially urged Usyk to take more time to recover after the fan favourite said he was ready to fight.
Dubois and promoter Frank Warren appealed to the WBA to overturn the result of the fight to a no-contest due to Pabon’s questionable low-blow call.
But their attempts to have the result of Usyk’s second defence of the unified heavyweight titles were KO’d by the Panama-based sanctioned body.
And to say revenge is on the mind of ‘Triple D’ ahead of July 19’s undisputed straightener would be an understatement.
The IBF heavyweight king said: “This is the fight I wanted and demanded and now I get my chance for revenge.
“I should have won the first fight and was denied by the judgement of the referee.
“So I will make no mistake this time around in front of my people at the national stadium in my home city.
“I am a superior and more dangerous fighter now and Usyk will find this out for himself.”
REUTERSDaniel Dubois has vowed to avenge his crushing loss to Oleksandr Usyk[/caption] Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
