Even with a couple of big names pulling out late, The Last Crescendo on February 22 in Riyadh made for quite the boxing spectacle. Headlined by Dmitry Bivol’s rematch with Artur Beterbiev, which ended in a deserved mixed decision in favor of Bivol, the card also featured plenty of heavyweight contenders.
Heavyweight Division After The Last Crescendo
Of course, Daniel Dubois was supposed to put his World title on the line against Joseph Parker, but a late illness vaulted the unfit Martin Bakole into the ring at two days’ notice. Also on the card was Agit Kabayel, who patiently outlasted Zhilei Zhang, while Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk were in the crowd.
Bar Dubois, and assuming that Tyson Fury is actually retired this time, Riyadh housed the elite of the weight class, with the fights that took place, and even those that didn’t, looking primed to determine the next year of heavyweight boxing.
Seeming his chirpy self on the sidelines, chatting with Joshua between rounds, Oleksandr Usyk doesn’t have any mandatories, as it stands, and remains the undefeated unified champion. The 23-0-0 Ukrainian has long been a hot pick for boxing fans and was the narrow favorite to overcome the once-favored Tyson Fury in his last outing.
In the betting preview, Usyk was coming in as the -145 favorite, while Fury sat out at +120. As was the case in the first fight, it was given odds of -155 to go the distance, which it did. This time, Usyk won by unanimous decision, which was a solid step up from the somewhat questionable split decision seen in the first bout. With just the first victory, Usyk aligned himself with legendary heavyweights.
Lennox Lewis, who ranks in the top five Canadian boxers of all time by the provider of the Usyk-Fury II odds preview, Bodog News, was the last boxer to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, reigning from November 1999 to April 2000. Once his next fight is announced, the Usyk bout will certainly get another full breakdown and odds preview with the betting news platform. If it’s against Dubois, while there will be more interest in the British boxer ending the fight within the rounds, Usyk will likely enter as at least the -150 favorite, if not a -300 favorite.
Much like Usyk’s short spell as the first four-belt undisputed king, Lewis also lost a belt for skipping a mandatory in favor of a better bout. Now, Usyk can battle to become the first and only two-time undisputed king of the four-belt era. Prior to The Last Crescendo event, he told DAZN Boxing that he wanted to fight Dubois.
Daniel Dubois, owning the belt that was stripped from Usyk, is 22-2-0 and, strangely, has aligned himself as a prime pick for a battle in May with Usyk. Having gone through a full training camp only to miss the event due to illness, as BBC Sport reports, he’s actually free and primed to try to avenge his 2023 loss to Usyk as soon as he can.
The medication prescribed to Dubois was said to be making him very drowsy, per promoter Frank Warren. While he likely needs a week of bed rest and a couple more to get back up to speed, Dubois will, in theory, be ready for another camp by the middle of March. That’s plenty of time to be ready for a May match with Usyk.
Skipping the Queue Post The Last Crescendo
There’s, quite rightly, a bit of agitation among the boxing crowd for the prospect of Dubois going straight in for Usyk. Parker dramatically put down late stand-in Martin Bakole after Dubois pulled out of his title defense. The 36-3 New Zealander has been superb of late and looked as good as he could in Riyadh.
As things are lining up now, it’s almost as though skipping the fight with Parker due to illness will give Dubois his shot at all four belts without needing to deal with a top challenger first. A very different prospect to the pugilist who lost by back-to-back unanimous decisions to Dillian Whyte and Joshua, Parker is a top contender now.
Parker burst onto the international scene back in 2016 in his early 20s by running rings around Andy Ruiz to claim the WBO World title, which he’d defend twice before meeting Joshua in 2018. Now much more experienced, stronger, and with a style infused by Andy Lee that’s more purposeful, he would have troubled Dubois.
So, it won’t come as a surprise that he wants to rumble with Oleksandr Usyk next. Now 9-1 with Lee in his corner, as Boxing Scene recalls him saying, “I will fight anyone and everyone.” He wants another world title shot. Should Dubois essentially skip Parker and go for Usyk and the Ukrainian wins, Parker could gun straight for the four belts.
Around Parker, we’ve got the now 21-2 Martin Bakole who, with a proper training camp, does cast a very scary shadow in the division. Famously avoided, he’ll be back on track with his own scheduling in May, possibly going up against Efe Ajagba in an IBF eliminator, as was planned prior.
Anthony Joshua’s now over the injury that held him back from triggering a quick rematch against Dubois, and Kabayel continues to impress. Beyond them, Lawrence Okolie brought his awkward, spidery style up to heavyweight in late 2024, and may return again in late 2025, after his rumble with Richard Riakporhe in April.
The fallout of The Last Crescendo seems to be that Dubois will get to bypass Parker and go straight for Usyk. Around the undisputed fight, Parker, Joshua, Bakole, Kabayel, and even Okolie will just have to jostle for position.
