Oleksandr Usyk knocks out Daniel Dubois in fifth round to reclaim undisputed heavyweight title

Oleksandr Usyk is once again the undisputed heavyweight champion, and he did it in style.

On Saturday night, Usyk faced Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium, with Usyk’s unified titles on the line against Dubois’s IBF heavyweight title for the unified belt. The matchup was a rematch of their 2023 fight where Usyk won via ninth-round KO, and things went even better for the pound-for-pound king as he managed to stop Dubois in almost half the time, finishing the British heavyweight in just five rounds.

Both men came out aggressive early on, but while Dubois was the obviously bigger and stronger man, Usyk was the one landing the heavy shots right from the opening bell. Usyk’s jab lanced through Dubois’s guard and he landed heavy counters as Dubois tried to close him down and hammer Usyk with his right hand. Dubois was not deterred though, and a very fun scrap was unfolding through four rounds.

That all came to an end in the fifth though as Usyk landed a sharp left hand that got Dubois’s attention, who got overly aggressive in retaliation and was then dropped by a nasty left-right combination from Usyk. Dubois beat the count but was obviously still compromised and Usyk pounced. Faced with fight or flight, Dubois dug in and swung back but that simply opened him up for a monstrous counter left that floored Dubois and ended the bout, returning Usyk to undisputed status.

The win advanced Usyk to 24-0 in his professional career. Afterward, he said he intends to take a few months of rest with his family before returning to action, and threw out a list of possible names for his return, including Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Joseph Parker, and more.