David Haye exclusive: Daniel Dubois capable of beating Oleksandr Usyk by ‘spectacular knockout’ in fight

David Haye believes Daniel Dubois is capable of beating a “worn and torn” Oleksandr Usyk by “spectacular knockout” when the two meet in the ring on Saturday night.

Dubois (19-1) goes into the fight as a heavy underdog and has a loss on his record which came against compatriot Joe Joyce in 2020. His last fight against Kevin Lerena at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last year was also an unconvincing victory.

Haye, who won multiple world championships in his career, thinks Usyk, 36, could struggle against his 25-year-old opponent.

“Are those legs as good as they were five years ago? I don’t believe so. He needs to use his youth, strength, his side and his aggression. He doesn’t have that many miles on the clock.

“Usyk has had a lot of tough fights even back at cruiserweight. Hundreds of amateur fights. He’s worn, he’s torn. He’s seasoned but he’s at the end of his career.

“If you look at the two fights with Anthony Joshua he looked significantly better in the first fight as he did the second fight. He’s going the right way, Dubois is coming into his peak now. Hopefully this can be the fight where he can prove to the world that he is No. 1.

“All it takes is one clean shot followed by a cluster of punches to end the fight. He has the capabilities, he’s done it before against lower opposition but in the heavyweight division crazy things happen.”

Usyk goes into the fight unbeaten, boasting an impressive 20-0 record with 13 wins by knockout. However, the Ukrainian laboured to victory against Derek Chisora in 2020 in what was only the second heavyweight fight of his career, winning via unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

Dubois has the same coach that Chisora had at the time – Don Charles – and Haye believes that could give the Briton a tactical advantage.

“Usyk’s proved himself time and time again,” Haye said. “He’s proved himself at cruiserweight. He’s proved himself at heavyweight against the giant Anthony Joshua.

“Joshua had two attempts to dethrone him and wasn’t able to do so. Joshua tried and failed to have a long-range boxing match with a master boxer. Came unstuck. I definitely feel Dubois, understanding what was clear to see from everybody, having a long range tactical battle with a genius, a southpaw magician, all the belts at cruiserweight – pretty much all the belts at heavyweight – let’s not play that game with Usyk.

“Let’s rewatch the Derek Chisora fight against Usyk and look at why Chisora came into that fight with nine losses or whatever it was and was able to win five of the 12 rounds on two of the judges’ scorecards. What was it that Chisora did to bring that much success?

“I believe when he has studied it, I believe when [his coach] Don Charles was talking, not giving away any strategy, he said he wants to put Usyk in his uncomfortable zone and that’s exactly right.

“Dubois needs to use every ounce of his massive heavyweight frame and implement that from round one. Not easing into the round, giving Usyk the opportunity to get his distance and his range. It’s been a while since Usyk has been in the ring and he’s not traditionally a fast starter. He likes to ease into the fight.

“Whilst he is easing in, Dubois needs to be doing damage, particularly in the clinches when they get inside. Throw shots, clusters of punches. Get Usyk to hold, tuck up against the ropes and throw clusters of useful punches with intensity. Don’t look at this as a 12 round fight.”

Haye believes Dubois has the ability to beat Usyk by “spectacular knockout” on Saturday night, but only if he can replicate the quality that he has personally witnessed in his sparring sessions.

He said: “If Dubois does what he’s done in any of his previous fights he loses the fight on points or late stoppage. If he goes into the ring like he did against Kevin Lorena he loses the fight. If he comes out the way he fought Joe Joyce – his last two big fights – he loses.

“But I believe there’s a version we haven’t seen yet. I’ve seen stuff in the gym, sparring which I hadn’t seen in the ring. I rated Dubois signifcantly better after watching him behind-closed-doors sparring because he was doing stuff he hasn’t done on fight night yet.

“If he can takes some of that magic behind-closed-doors, which I know he can do, and implement it on Saturday night, when the lights are on, then he’s got a shot. Not only a shot of winning but by spectacular knockout, but it’s solely down to him.”

Virgin Media TV customers in the UK: customers with a TiVo and/or V6 set-top-box should visit the On-Demand section and choose Live Events; customers with a Virgin TV360 and/or Stream set-top-box should go to the Pay Per View Live Events rail

BT TV customers can go to channel 494 and pay using their remote control.