Oleksandr Usyk pays tribute to Ukraine before his upcoming fight against Daniel Dubois.

Boxing General

Oleksandr Usyk pays tribute to Ukraine before his upcoming fight against Daniel Dubois.

Unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has officially paid tribute to Ukraine before his upcoming fight against Daniel Dubois.

Ukraine's Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk received an icon painted on a wooden board used by soldiers as a token of love and respect from the Ukrainian army.

The Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk is set to defend his WBA, WBO and IBF belts against Daniel Dubois in Poland, where the Ukrainian fighter will have plenty of home support.

Usyk confirmed on Thursday that he will face Dubois, a Briton who is the WBA mandatory challenger, on Aug. 26 at Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw.

Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) is ESPN's No. 2 heavyweight after Tyson Fury, whom he was in talks to fight in April for the undisputed championship. When negotiations collapsed in March, Usyk turned to his WBA mandatory challenger Dubois.

Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs) was a top prospect before he fractured his left orbital in a 10th-round KO loss to Joe Joyce in November 2020. He's reeled off four wins since, most recently a third-round TKO win over Kevin Lerena in December.