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Oleksandr Usyk claims he respects Daniel Dubois; but should we believe him?
Oleksandr Usyk is favoured to beat Daniel Dubois on Saturday, live on DAZN PPV, and become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
And if you watch Thursday's press conference, one would get the sense that Team Usyk knows they are the favourites and aren't buying the hype from Dubois and his team that he's a different fighter this time around compared to their August 2023, which the Ukrainian won by ninth-round stoppage.
“Same guy and you can’t change your mind,” Usyk's manager, Egis Klimas, said in rebuttal to Dubois' team at the presser.
- Read next | Frazer Clarke: I have sparred with Usyk and Dubois and one man hits twice as hard as the other
Throughout the presser, Usyk wasn't paying attention too much and preferred to be speaking with Klimas or holding a bracelet with beads and playing with it. If he wasn't doing anything, Usyk would just be looking down and appeared like he wanted to take a nap.
But when asked if age would play a factor, the 38-year-old Usyk perked and contemplated a well-thought-out answer.
“Listen, I respect this guy. This young guy," Usyk responded. "This guy is motivated. But I am, too. I’m not an old guy. Thirty-eight is not old. We will see Saturday. It’s God’s will."
Analysis - Does Usyk respect Dubois?
Steven Muehlhausen - DAZN combat sports reporter
Ninety-nine point nine percent of fighters always say they respect their opponents. It's a common nature, like when they say 'I had the best training camp of my career'. It rolls off the tongue, and you don't think twice about what comes out of the mouth.
Then, when the fight ends, more often than not, fighters talk about the bad camp they had and talk about what went wrong.
While fighters want you to believe they always respect their foes, they don't all the time. I feel that is the case with Usyk towards Dubois.
Usyk knows what he's up against. Dubois isn't Chazz Witherspoon, but he's also not Tyson Fury, and Usyk knows that.
Based on Usyk's demeanour this week, this is just another opponent, and he expects to dominate and become a four-belt champion for the third time when all is said and done at Wembley Stadium.
A fighter can change things up. Just look at Dubois' last three fights post the first Usyk defeat. He dominated Jarrell Miller, then thrashed Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua. Even though Dubois has looked sensational, Miller, Hrgovic, and Joshua aren't near the level of Usyk.
So it would be easy to see why the respect wouldn't be at the level it might have been 23 months ago.
Usyk respects the person, but not the man who holds the other belt he desires to have in his possession.
It's not that Usyk doesn't respect Dubois' accomplishments. But it's very hard to have the same level of respect for someone after you dominated and defeated the same opponent by stoppage. And he's right to have that level of cockiness.
But will that cost him? We are about to find out.
Usyk vs Dubois 2 only on DAZN
Watch Usyk versus Dubois 2 live and exclusive on DAZN PPV this Saturday - July 19 - for £24.99 UK; $59.99 US; $19.99/equivalent ROW.
