The heavyweight boxing scene springs back into life on Saturday when Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois clash to become undisputed heavyweight champion at Wembley Stadium.
WBA, WBO and WBC champion Usyk, 38, is returning to the ring for the first time since December when he beat British fighter Tyson Fury for a second time in Riyadh.
The Ukrainian cemented his status as the greatest heavyweight of this generation when he inflicted another defeat on Fury when all three judges at the Kingdom Arena scored the fight 116-112.
That victory extended former undisputed world cruiserweight champion Usyk's unbeaten record to 23 fights (14KOs), with his heavyweight scalps also including two comprehensive wins over Anthony Joshua and a more controversial one against Dubois.
The latter victory in 2023 remains a bone of contention for London-born Dubois, who floored Usyk in the fifth round only for the referee to call a low blow.
The reigning champion was then given an extended period to recover, much to the frustration of Dubois' team at ringside, and would go on to drop his increasingly exhausted opponent in the eighth and ninth rounds before the fight was stopped.
The call was still being debated when the pair met for a press conference in April, ahead of the summer rematch.
Usyk arrived with several photographs of the controversial punch, which appeared to show it landing below the belt line, even asking his opponent to sign the images.
“It's disappointing me that you would stoop as low as bringing one of those photographs,” Dubois' coach Don Charles said.
“You should be given an Oscar for that performance. You conned the referee. You conned us. You conned the boxing world.” A smiling Usyk, replied: “You should teach your fighter to punch clean.”
Promoter Frank Warren, who represents Dubois, has said Usyk would find the Briton a very different prospect to the one he beat in their first encounter in Poland.
“Last time they fought Daniel the boy. This time they're fighting Daniel the man, and that's the difference and he'll find that out on Saturday,” Warren said.
“He [Usyk] is the best heavyweight of his generation, but everybody's the best until they get beaten and I think it's his time now.”
“I’m a different fighter now," agreed Dubois in an interview with The Guardian this week. "There have been real improvements. I’m doing things I’ve always done but I’m doing them better. Maybe I just want it more now."
Dubois has not fought since destroying former two-time world champion Joshua over five brutal rounds last September, in Riyadh Season's London debut.
In front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, Dubois secured the biggest win of his career as he dropped Joshua multiple times on the way to retaining his IBF belt.
Dubois, whose other defeat came against Joe Joyce, another Briton, in 2020, is confident that he is ready to make history by becoming the first man to beat Usyk and gain revenge for their previous bout.
“I have resurrected myself, resurrected my career and now we're on a roll,” Dubois, aiming to become Britain's first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999, told the BBC.
“Unstoppable, I feel like I can't be beat right now. I'm in the prime of my life and I'm going to go through whatever I have to do, We're here now, no more excuses.
“I've got to beat him this time and I am going to win. I am going to cause chaos, knockout, by any means possible. I am ready. Man, I'm ready 100 per cent.
“As soon as the bell rings my whole approach is to seek and destroy, bring chaos, get the victory and seize the moment.”
Former champion Fury, meanwhile, said earlier this month that he was ready to come out of retirement after calling time on his career following the latest Usyk loss.
The 36-year-old, whose last three fights have been in Saudi Arabia, was asked who his preferred comeback bout would be against.
“Who would I rather fight, right now? Usyk. Because I want my revenge in England,” he said.
“I don't believe I've got a fair shout the last two times. That's all I want. I want a fair shout, and I don't believe I've got a fair shout the last two times.
“That's the one I want, but if I don't get that then it'd be [Anthony] Joshua, the biggest British fight that will ever happen.”
Saudi Arabian boxing chief Turki Alalshikh also claimed that Fury had promised a return to action in 2026, albeit taking place in the kingdom once again.
On Wednesday, his promoter, Warren, said that Fury will not be fighting in 2025 but reiterated that revenge against Usyk was priority No 1.
“I spoke to him [Fury] over the weekend about boxing. He won't fight this year,” Warren told the 5 Live Boxing podcast.
“He's got this Netflix second series coming but he's in the gym. He's in it for his well-being, physically and mentally. It keeps him in a good place.”
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
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Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
