Daniel DuBois had done all the right things to receive a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
Dubois had won the IBF title when the organization stripped Usyk for fighting a rematch with Tyson Fury, defeated three solid contenders and a former champion (Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic, and Anthony Joshua), and, along with his promoter (Frank Warren) and his team, manufactured controversy from his first chance at Usyk (claiming his low blow to Usyk was a clean body shot, it wasn't) to earn another try to unify the four titles that Usyk had once unified.
And the end result didn't change as Usyk controlled the first four rounds, knocked DuBois down in the fifth, and after DuBois barely rose, Usyk finished the fight with one left hook for the stoppage.
Usyk once again holds all four heavyweight titles and was unsure about his future.
The fight that would make the most sense if Usyk wanted to retain the four titles would be a defense against the WBO's mandatory challenger and the most deserving contender, former WBO champion, Joseph Parker.
Parker has won his last six fights, his last three against quality contenders in Deontay Wilder, Zhihei Zhang, and most recently, Martin Bakole.
Usyk could choose not to meet Parker, but should he do so, Usyk would vacate the WBO belt.
A win over Parker to add to his two wins over each of Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and now Daniel DuBois and Usyk would firmly place him in the conversation among the best heavyweights in history, if he hasn't already.
The co-feature saw Lawrence Okolie easily decision Kevin Lerena in a dreary ten-rounder.
Okolie won by scores of 100-90 times two and 99-91/
My score was 100-90 Okolie.
Boxing Challenge
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