Tony Bellew has claimed that the 'real' Daniel Dubois 'doesn't want to fight' after the British heavyweight was stopped by Oleksandr Usyk for the second time on Saturday. At Wembley, Usyk dropped Dubois twice in the fifth round, with the second knockdown proving decisive, as the Ukrainian regained the IBF title and retained his unified belts to become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion.
The unbeaten Usyk also became a three-time undisputed champion overall, having previously reigned as the only undisputed cruiserweight king of the four-belt era. The 38-year-old retained that status against Bellew in 2018, stopping the Liverpudlian. Bellew contrasted his own defeat to Usyk with Dubois's two losses, the first of which came in 2023 when Usyk dropped 'Dynamite' twice and stopped him with a powerful jab.
Speaking to Talksport on Monday, Bellew said: 'Daniel Dubois is a brilliant fighter on the front foot, he's what's called a flat-track bully in boxing. When things are going his way and he's landing punches, he's an absolute nightmare for anybody, as we've seen in the AJ fight. But the minute you start to manoeuvre around him, make him miss a couple of times – and make him pay – he starts doubting himself, he starts feeling sorry for himself. He starts looking for a way... and he just fell apart.'
Bellew added: 'The first knockdown is a strong jab... the second knockdown, when it comes, I just feel he's on the floor looking at the referee. It was a look of a fighter who's like... I think the questions he needs to answer are: 'Why am I doing this? Who am I doing this for and why am I doing it?' Because if he's doing it for himself, believe you me, guys, he gets up. I got hit with the same shots off Usyk, and I was on my back flat, and on the count of six I was up on my feet. What you've seen in Daniel on Saturday was a fighter who takes a really heavy shot, but doesn't want to get up. When he gets into these really hard moments in fights, that's when the real Daniel comes out – and the real Daniel doesn't want to fight.'
Usyk's second win against Dubois extended his dominance over British fighters. As well as earning two stoppages of Dubois and one against Bellew, the Ukrainian holds two decision victories over Tyson Fury, two over Anthony Joshua, and one over Derek Chisora. Four of those wins came on British soil, with the Olympic champion earning a reputation as a tremendous 'away' fighter and establishing himself as one of the greatest fighters of his generation.
