Torn Right Knee ACL to Keep WBA Champ Daniel Dubois Out of Ring for Six Months
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
London, UK (December 25th, 2022)– World Boxing Association Regular World heavyweight champion Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois, who came off the canvas three times in the first round against South African challenger Kevin Lerena to stop him after three rounds, after dropping Lerena twice in the third round at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 3, 2022, will be out of ring action for at least six months, according to former WBA World Featherweight champion Barry McGuigan in the Dubois camp, the father of Dubois’ trainer Shane McGuigan.
Dubois, 19-1 with 18 knockouts, Greenwich, London, United Kingdom, was the number one WBA contender for WBA Super World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who was looking to defend his title in 2023 next against Usyk after the Lerena victory. The Usyk camp would naturally want Dubois next, seeing as he got knocked down three times in the first round, which would have been an automatic TKO win for Lerena under WBA rules, which were superseded by the rules of the BBBofC British Boxing Board of Control. The fact Lerena backed off in round two and let Dubois back into the fight is a separate issue.
The question remains as to whether or not the WBA will vacate the WBA regular title, or give Dubois the opportunity to heal and recover. Dubois’s lackluster come from behind performance revealed a glass chin against hard hitters. Dubois, who has already been counted out against Joe Joyce, would be facing the likes of legitimate world-class heavyweight champions and contenders. Besides Usyk, Dubois could have future challenges from Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, Frank Sanchez, Efe Ajagba, Andy Ruiz Jr., Michael Hunter, Tyson Fury, Hughie Fury, Dillian Whyte, Dereck Chisora, Kubrat Pulev and Arslanbek Makhmudov, Filip Hrgovic, Otto Wallin, Luis Ortiz, Martin Bakole, Zhilei Zhang, Zhan Kossobutskiy, Stephan Shaw, Charles Martin, Demsey McKean, or the winner of next month’s contest between Joseph Parker and Jack Massey at Manchester Arena. All of these fighters are serious, and fight at a level one notch above ex-IBO World Cruiserweight champion Lerena, so their visit to the ring is not a social call.
Dubois, after major heavyweight shock bouts with Lerena and Joe Joyce, will have to step into the ring with one of the above names next June 2023, if Dubois intends to keep his WBA title. Once highly touted, Dubois is probably the weakest top-ten heavyweight today. Dubois versus Lerena round one definitely ranks as a contender for round of the year in 2022 for shock value alone, as it came on the Tyson Fury versus Dereck Chisora III card before shocked British fans. Dubois versus Lerena round three could possibly be the 2022 comeback round of the year. The big names want to fight Dubois, given his exposed chin.
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