Frank Warren believes Oleksandr Usyk’s potential move to cruiserweight is ‘impossible’, which could hand Daniel Dubois a lifeline.
Usyk cemented his name in the heavyweight record books with a second consecutive win over Tyson Fury last month to retain his unified heavyweight titles.
The Ukrainian remains undefeated and is running out of challengers, which has led to his ambitious plan to move back down to cruiserweight and launch a new assault on the division.
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He previously reigned as an undisputed king at the lower limit before making the leap to heavyweight in 2018, but at 37-years-old it remains unclear if he physically can cope with the demands of cutting.
Should he remain at heavyweight, IBF champion Daniel Dubois is keen to rematch Usyk, in a revenge bid after being stopped by his fellow king in 2023.
‘Dyanmite’ first has to beat Joseph Parker in a tough title defence against Joseph Parker on February 22, but Usyk has already verbally agreed to take the sequel.
And Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren now believes Usyk will stay in the division, in a huge boost to the chances of the second meeting taking place.
He told Sky Sports: “He won’t. See the size of him, it’s impossible.
“You’ve only got to look at the size of him, that’s not going to happen.
“For him, the winner of Dubois vs Parker is a big fight, a massive fight.”
Warren also expects proceedings to be much different if the pair meet again.
He added: “I genuinely still believe he would have beaten Usyk if it weren’t for what was going on in his head at the time with the referee.
“All that four-minute break. He would have jumped on him. “Was it a low blow?
“I don’t think it was a low blow, some people think it was. But the bottom line of it is four minutes when he [Usyk] wanted to fight himself and the referee said take more time.
“90 per cent of it is mental. It’s taken time. He’s had a couple of hiccups on the way but you look at the fights he’s had and what he’s done – he’s learned.
“He’s a very young guy. He’s matured mentally, which is really important. He’s got the skills.
“He’s comfortable with his trainer Don Charles, who’s done a brilliant job with him and this is his time.”
Usyk has the world at his feet, but is now 37-years-old and has nothing left to prove.
Dubois believes he does, given he dropped the champion with a controversial shot which was deemed a low blow, to his disgust.
But nonetheless he was unable to put the fight to bed and Usyk had dominated for large periods of the ring exchanges.
There aren’t many challengers left on the table for the recent undisputed king.
Jai Opetaia has also called for a high-profile clash, given he currently is viewed as the best operator in the cruiserweight division.
The Australian even intends to move up to heavyweight to pursue it, but it is unclear how long Usyk will remain active for.
