This was abrupt, this was startling, and in a way, this felt cruel. Cruel is not a word one would instinctively associate with Oleksandr Usyk, but in the cauldron that Wembley Stadium became, the Ukrainian lured in the young pretender and knocked him out, stealing tens of thousands of Dubois’s fans in the process.
After their controversial first clash in 2023, when Usyk climbed off the canvas after a low blow that Dubois’s team swore was a body shot, this rematch brought a distilled clarity. There was nothing to contest, nothing to debate, nothing to appeal.
The narrative was that Dubois, two years more mature and in the form of his boxing life, might just be meeting a 38-year-old Usyk at the right time on Saturday. Yet Usyk, 11 years Dubois’s elder, looked decades wiser in pugilistic terms, as he taught Dubois a harsh sporting lesson in London. Dubois barely even had moments to speak of, while Usyk established a key weapon early on – a counter, southpaw cross – and punished his opponent repeatedly.
In that sense, the speed with which Usyk arrived at the knockout, just five rounds into this undisputed title fight, might have been strangely merciful. But, again, the decisiveness and abruptness with which Usyk snatched Dubois’s dreams from him felt almost… mean, to put it plainly.
Perhaps the only true ‘moment’ that Dubois had came in the first round, when he cornered Usyk, and the crowd’s collective voice rose in anticipation, realising it might just have been the corner where Dubois annihilated Anthony Joshua in September – in the same stadium.
But on that occasion, Dubois was the one backed into the corner and countering. This time, he was the hunter. And while that sounds a threatening role, Dubois was easily defanged by Usyk, whose head movement and unpredictable lateral footwork made him an untraceable prize. There was also the fact that Usyk was happy to punch his way off the ropes when needed.
And in fact, it was under a similar circumstance that Usyk conjured the end.
After Usyk snapped back Dubois’s head, the 27-year-old ignited a firefight, in a bid to gain respect and arrest momentum. But as he sought to put Usyk under pressure, the pressure was reversed, as Usyk careened a left hook onto the chin of the younger boxer, sending him staggering to the canvas.
It was, in a way, a reversal of what Dubois did to Joshua in September. Yet in a more general sense, the scene became a replication of what Usyk did to Dubois in 2023: after Dubois climbed back up, the Ukrainian dropped him a second time, with this knockdown marking the end.
Like the first knockdown on Saturday, it came from a left hook, jarring Dubois’s jaw and sending split flying through the cooling London night. This time, a dazed Dubois did not so much stagger as lollop to the mat. He was still semi-conscious, but there might as well have been no count; he was never going to beat it.
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Then, it was Usyk’s turn to fall to the mat. He collapsed to his knees and covered his weeping eyes with his gloves. Moments later, he had the grace to check on Dubois.
Then came the humour. “Thirty-eight is a young guy, remember,” were Usyk’s first words after retaining the unified belts and regaining the IBF gold. “38 is only start.”
“I want to say thank you, Jesus Christ. I want to say thank you, my team and you – thank you so much,” he told a converted crowd, which screamed its own gratitude in response. Of course, it must not be overlooked that there seemed to be many Ukrainian fans in attendance, judging by the sonic soul emanating from the stands during the pre-fight national anthem.
But for those not of a Ukrainian background, how could you not be converted? To put it simply: this was not a normal performance. Boxers do not just do what Usyk does. As Dubois’s coach Don Charles conceded after the bout, Usyk is a “generational” talent.
This was known, yes, due to his Olympic gold-medal win, his undisputed cruiserweight reign, and his first undisputed heavyweight triumph – the latter earned with an epic victory over Tyson Fury last May. But this performance confirmed Usyk as perhaps the finest fighter of his generation.
There is no debating that he was the greatest cruiserweight of this generation, and now there is no debate that he is its greatest heavyweight – if there ever was, after his staggering 2024. Back-to-back wins over Joshua, back-to-back wins over Fury, and two stoppages of Dubois define just one part of Usyk’s resume.
So, treasure him while he is here to box, because although his performance suggests he could go on for years and years, and although he told you this is just the start, he is slowly approaching a deserved end to his career.
