| |
|
|
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois & Jared Anderson vs.
Andriy Rudenko Heavyweight Battles Highlight Marathon Fight
Day
Ukraine’s WBO/WBA/IBF heavyweight world champion, Oleksandr
Usyk, will defend his collection of belts against England’s
Daniel Dubois this Saturday, Aug. 26 at Tarczyński Arena
Wrocław in Wroclaw, Poland.
This is the second title defense for pound-for-pound great
Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs), who moved up to heavyweight in 2019
following a historic run to the undisputed cruiserweight
championship. Usyk toppled reigning champion Anthony Joshua
by unanimous decision in September 2021, then prevailed by
split decision last August in their highly anticipated
rematch. Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs) has won four fights by
stoppage since a 2020 TKO defeat to countryman Joe Joyce.
Usyk-Dubois will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on
ESPN+ as a special one-fight broadcast starting at 5 p.m.
ET/2 p.m. PT. Ring walks are expected shortly thereafter.
Usyk-Dubois kicks off a marathon fight day on the ESPN
family of networks. The action then turns to Oklahoma for
the undercard of the Jared Anderson-Andriy Rudenko
heavyweight main event at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.
ESPN+ will stream undercard bouts beginning at 6:50 p.m.
ET/3:50 p.m. PT. A slew of undefeated prospects will be in
action, including Brooklyn-born featherweight phenom Bruce
“Shu Shu” Carrington (8-0, 5 KOs) in an eight-rounder,
Tulsa-born heavyweight Jeremiah Milton (10-0, 7 KOs) taking
on Craig Lewis (15-6-1, 8 KOs) in an eight-rounder, and
middleweight Nico Ali Walsh (8-0-1, 5 KOs) against Sona
Akale (7-1, 4 KOs) in a six-rounder.
The action moves to ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ at 10:30
p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT for a heavyweight doubleheader, as
Anderson (15-0, 14 KOs) returns less than two months removed
from his triumphant Toledo homecoming to fight Rudenko
(35-6, 21 KOs) in a 10-round clash. In the 10-round
co-feature, top contender Efe Ajagba (17-1, 13 KOs) looks to
topple unbeaten southpaw Zhan Kossobutskiy (19-0, 18 KOs).
|
|
|
