‘Bring him on,’ roared Daniel Dubois when asked if he would like a third fight against the greatest boxer of his generation who has beaten him twice.
Oleksandr Usyk, who is in a state of limbo somewhere between vacating all the heavyweight tiles and semi-retirement, is a genius so may not fall readily into the trap baited on the banks of the Thames in the dark hours of this Sunday morning.
Ukraine’s war hero will have watched Dubois annihilate the gallant Fabio Wardley and recognised that Dynamite Daniel is no longer the callow youth he wiped the canvas with a couple of times during his reign as the undisputed world champion.
Promoter Frank Warren is not given to understatement but when he said ‘Daniel has matured now’ he was only scratching the surface of the transformation.
It may be a stretch to compare Dubois with the once terrifying Sonny Liston but to those rivals wearing the other belts he needs if he is to become undisputed then he is starting to look like a monster.
‘I want them all,’ said WBO champion Dubois. He was referring to the winner between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in December, who will thereby hold a WBA title, as well as IBF and WBC champions Filip Hrgovic and Ajit Kabayel.
Daniel Dubois knocks down Fabio Wardley during his annihilation on Saturday night
Dubois has declared himself ready to fight anyone in the heavyweight division
Their availability, especially that of AJ or the Gypsy King, will be determined no doubt by there being many more millions in the Aladdin’s Cave from which Saudi Arabia has helped finance the welcome flux of mega-fights of late.
If so then Warren is promising a 2027 bursting with monthly heavyweight spectaculars as lustily anticipated as Dubois’ second demolition of Wardley . At the rapid conclusion of which another packed O2 crowd was switching its allegiance from a love affair with Fabio’s romanticised emergence from white collar boxing to realisation that Britain has a world beater in the ascendancy.
One who may be growing, also, into more of a box office star than the monosyllabic Liston ever was. If his accurate bravura prediction of a ‘bash and smash’ slaughter of Wardley and his most jovial media conference yet which followed are anything to go by.
Having nursed his confidence in the Dubois family cocoon Daniel now has a mansion of his own to live in and a selection of race cars to drive. No more Mister Shy Guy but none the less likeable for that.
The transition to full manhood was rounded off over the two fights with Wardley. This included recovery from two early knockdowns in the first Fight Of The Year battle to a brutal 11th round stoppage victory.
And now the onslaught triggered by a staggering right hand blow only 17 seconds after the first bell which imposed an eight count on the ropes. Followed by an overwhelming TKO in round two. Wham, bam and thank you man. No criticism this time of a delay in calling it off. In flew the white towel, in jumped referee Steve Gray.
Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua fight each other in December – and Dubois wants the winner
There has been some nagging at the edge of Dubois’ triumph. Suggestions that Wardley came back too soon after the second-half beating in May. But if five-and-a-half months is not sufficient time to recover then how long would be? The immortal Joe Louis used to fight once a month, for heaven’s sake.
Wardley, honest man that he is, blamed himself. Having lived to fight another day he vows to do better enough to launch a comeback campaign for another world title. Meanwhile Dubois, at 29 last month, heads for the stratosphere as champion of the next generation of heavyweight boxing.
As the new monster of the prize-ring? It took The Greatest Of All Time to stop the Liston beast In his awesome tracks. Might Usyk be the Muhammad Ali in waiting for Dubois? Maybe. Perhaps not since he is the older legend now. It would be fascinating finding out.
The tombstone on Sonny Liston’s grave in Las Vegas describes him simply as A MAN. Frank Warren is right about Dubois becoming exactly that.
