“All for the Joshua Showdown” Dubois’ Trainer Speaks Out on Usyk’s Pre-Fight Party Controversy
Daniel Dubois’ trainer Don Charles insists the party before his KO defeat to Oleksandr Usyk was nothing new.
Dubois was brutally dropped and stopped by Oleksandr Usyk in the fifth round of their undisputed title clash at Wembley Stadium.
But the Briton faced immediate inquests from the boxing world, given that he arrived much later than his counterpart to Wembley Stadium.
Simon Jordan, talkSPORT host, revealed that a party had been thrown just hours before the event at Dubois’ home organised by his father.
There has been a huge backlash to the decision from across the boxing community regarding the decision to host so many people just hours before an undisputed fight.
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But in an exclusive interview on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan, Charles insisted it was a tactic also used before he beat Anthony Joshua.
He explained: “Let’s retract that word, it wasn’t a party it was a gathering.
“The same gathering was used as the prep on fight day for the AJ fight, the day he won.
“A lot was made of it with the energy he walked out at for the Anthony Joshua fight. That gathering was taken from home to the dressing room for that fight.
“There might have been more people for this second gathering to get more energy, I’m a logical man and it makes logical sense.
“The AJ fight was big but this even trumps it, I try to understand and it may appear madness to people but it was the same thing that got us victory.”
When asked if Dubois knew all of the attendees at the party, amid reports he left it for a drive, Charles continued: “I can’t tell you he did.
“I wasn’t there and I chose not to go there. My duty is on the training team to make sure we go to the dressing room and make sure everything is intact.”
Many believe the party was a distracting factor in Dubois’ preparations, and that his father was a key reason for his defeat.
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He still appeared to be brimming with confidence as he walked to the ring.
But Usyk was simply too powerful and too good on the night, with Dubois unable to get the redemption he craved.
The Ukrainian is now being compared to all-time greats such as Muhammad Ali and Lennox Lewis.
And Charles is simply keen to pin the main reason for the defeat on Usyk’s greatness, as opposed to the chaotic build-up.
He added: “I thought he was in the right frame of mind, yes.
“The young man I saw in the dressing room, we had ample time to warm up.
“I didn’t see anything that suggested he wasn’t on it on the night. Of course we are terribly disappointed that we couldn’t execute the game plan.
“We were operating at 25 per cent capacity, and that is something to do with the legendary great in front of us.
“I put it down to Oleksandr Usyk being that much of a genius as a fighter. It had a large say in what happened in the fight.”
