- Dubois will take on Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight world title on July 19
- He was dropped three times by one star during a bout in 2022 before recovering
- The fighter will take on Lawrence Okolie on the undercard of the upcoming bout
A world champion that once dropped Daniel Dubois three times in one fight has been added to the undercard of the Brit’s rematch with Oleksandr Usyk later on this year.
Dubois will face the Ukrainian for a second time in his career after a controversial defeat in August 2023 that saw Usyk handed recovery time after he hit the deck following a punch by Dynamite.
Though Dubois thought he had secured a legitimate knockdown, Usyk claimed a low blow – which was awarded by the referee before the undefeated star went onto secure victory.
Dubois, though, recovered and went onto secure the biggest win of his career when he stopped Anthony Joshua late last year to propel himself to the top of the heavyweight division and eventually set up the rematch.
That will be held at Wembley on July 19, and the undercard is starting to take shape with two more matches added to it this week.
One of those matches will see Kevin Lerena take on Lawrence Okolie, three years after the former came within seconds of beating Dubois.
A fighter who dropped Daniel Dubois three times in one fight has been added the the undercard of Dynamite’s fight with Oleksandr Usyk
Kevin Lerena (pictured) will take on Lawrence Okolie as the undercard begins to take shape
Lerena dropped Usyk three times in a matter of minutes in December 2022 before Dynamite recovered to win
Lerena and Dubois faced off in 2022 and the South African dropped his opponent three times in the opening minutes of the bout and seemed well on his way to victory.
Dubois made a stunning comeback to secure the win in round three, but Lerena’s stocks rose and he went on to face the likes of Justis Huni and Serhiy Radchenko.
Okolie was bridgerweight world champion before Lerena, vacating the title before stepping up to the heavyweight division last year.
He was also previously WBO cruiserweight champion before losing it to Chris Billam-Smith at Vitality Stadium in May 2023 – the only loss of his career to date.
Elsewhere on the undercard, Usyk’s undefeated training partner, Daniel Lapin, will take on British and Commonwealth light heavyweight champion Lewis Edmondson.
Edmondson is also undefeated after 11 professional fights, with this bout a non-title fight.
Dubois, meanwhile, hasn’t fought since stopping Joshua last year, but is preparing to step into the ring for the biggest fight of his career in a little over a month’s time.
Asked on the bout, Joshua, who has lost to both men, gave a bizarre response, telling iFLtv: ‘I’ve got a few thoughts on it but I feel like I don’t want to talk on it too much because it’s not my fight, it’s their fight. I don’t want to promote their fight. I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t want to talk about it.’
