Daniel Dubois’s trainer Don Charles has given his thoughts on the Oleksandr Usyk rematch on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium.
Charles has broken his silence on the pre-fight party Dubois was seemingly at just hours before the fight, as the former world heavyweight champion arrived at the venue just 90 minutes before his ring walk.
Don Charles Breaks Silence On Daniel Dubois Pre-Fight Party
Following his fifth round knockout defeat to Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night, it has come to light that Daniel Dubois was at a pre-fight party just hours before his undisputed world heavyweight title rematch with the great Ukrainian.
A video on social media revealed that Dubois, whose net worth has surpassed £4m, was at a party with a large group of people just hours before heading to Wembley Stadium for the biggest fight of his life.
Given the fact that Oleksandr Usyk, who now boasts 13 wins in world title fights with 24-0 record, stopped Dubois in quicker fashion than he did two years ago in their first fight, alarm bells have been raised about Dubois’ preparation.
It is normal for fighters, particularly in huge world title contests, to arrive at the venue at least three hours before they are scheduled to fight.
This most definitely wasn’t the case with Dubois, who reportedly arrived at 8.30pm – just 90 minutes before his scheduled fight with Usyk for the undisputed world heavyweight titles.
Team Dubois, including ‘Dynamite’ himself and his head coach Don Charles have taken a lot of stick since, with Charles now breaking his silence on the entire situation on talkSPORT on Tuesday morning with Simon Jordan and Sam Matterface.
Charles, who has been Dubois’ head trainer for four fights now, has revealed that the pre-fight party was more of a gathering, and isn’t something new for his man Daniel Dubois.
In fact, Charles has revealed that Dubois did the exact same thing back in September before his fight with Anthony Joshua, which he won in destructive fashion in five rounds to become IBF World Heavyweight Champion.
😱 Daniel Dubois allegedly had a party with 70 people in his house just a few hours before his Undisputed title fight with Oleksandr Usyk last Saturday.pic.twitter.com/2AiZDwwQwh
— EverythingBoxing | Darshan Desai (@EverythingBoxi2) July 21, 2025
Daniel Dubois Arrived At Wembley Stadium Just 90 Minutes Before Ring Walk Following Pre-Fight Party
Daniel Dubois, who is now a dad after his girlfriend Raissa Foxx gave birth to their child, was always going to be up against it against the undefeated king that is Oleksandr Usyk.
Their first fight back in August 2023 of course went the way of the Ukrainian, with the majority of people believing it would be a similar result this time around.
However, a lot of fans believed Dubois would come out on top given his recent performances against Anthony Joshua, Filip Hrgovic and Jarrell Miller.
That being said, boxing betting sites still listed ‘DDD’ as a pre-fight underdog, which proved to be the right call.
Whether or no Dubois’ pre-fight party had any bearing on the fight itself remains to be seen. However, it certainly isn’t standard preparation by any means, with several professional boxers stating how silly Dubois’ pre-fight party and preparation really was.
As it turns out, Dubois arrived at Wembley Stadium just 90 minutes before he was scheduled to fight. This has raised alarm bells with boxing fans in the aftermath, stating that this is far from ideal preparation for the biggest fight of your life.
However, Dubois’ head coach Don Charles sees it differently. Charles has revealed in an interview with talkSPORT that this pre-fight party, which he has labelled a gathering rather than party, is the exact same preparation that Dubois had before his fight with Anthony Joshua, which he of course won in devastating fashion.
Don Charles: ‘It’s The Same Method That Got Us The Victory Against AJ’
Don Charles has revealed that Daniel Dubois’ preparation for the Oleksandr Usyk, who boasts a £45m net worth, rematch was no different to the way they prepared for the Anthony Joshua fight last September.
“Let’s replace the world party with the word gathering. It was a gathering. That same gathering we used as preparation before the AJ [Anthony Joshua] fight,” said Charles.
It is apparent that Dubois had a similar pre-fight gathering for the ‘AJ’ fight last time, hence why he replicated it this time around, hoping for the same outcome in the ring against Usyk.
“If it worked for you the first time, you’re going to want to replicate it again. The only reason there were more people at this gathering [before the Usyk rematch] was to increase the volume and energy.
“It may appear as madness to a lot of people, but it’s the same method that got us the victory [against Joshua]. If it’s worked for me, I don’t see why people have a problem with it. Everyone has their own view on it,” Charles concluded.
It’s clear that Dubois’ pre-fight gathering is unusual preparation for an elite athlete, but isn’t something new for him. Dubois, who has been labelled a quitter for the third time in his career, is his own man and can prepare how he sees fit.
Whether or not it is ideal pre-fight practice or not is up for debate, but it certainly didn’t help Dubois in the ring when it came to fight time.
