Heavy going for big Wembley night

A strong heavyweight theme is emerging for the blockbuster Wembley Stadium night on Saturday July 19 when Daniel Dubois will attempt to topple Oleksandr Usyk and become undisputed world champion.

On what will be a historic night whichever way it goes – it is the first time an undisputed heavyweight collision has taken place on British soil – promoter Frank Warren recently revealed that with just over a month to go before punches are exchanged in the centre circle of the national stadium will be packed.

But the big bombs will not just be delivered by Dubois because, currently, there are a further two heavyweight showdowns on the undercard.

Two bridgerweight world champions now operating up a weight will fight for the coveted WBC Silver title. Holder Lawrence Okolie, also a former cruiserweight world champion, will have his second fight at heavyweight against the dangerous South African Kevin Lerena.

Lerena, of course, is remembered on these shores for his epic encounter with Dubois for the WBA regular world title at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in late 2022. Dubois was caught early in the first round, injured himself on the way down, then touched canvas a further two times in the opener before gathering his poise and stopping his man in the third.

The 33-year-old, also a former IBO champion at cruiserweight, became world champion at bridgerweight in October 2024 following Okolie relinquishing the belt. He was previously the Interim world champion following his victory over Senad Gashi.

Okolie, 32, introduced himself in the marquee division with a blistering first round stoppage of Hussein Muhamed last December at Wembley Arena.

The next heavyweight offering is a clash of the unbeaten Ukrainians, with Andrii Novytskyi taking on Queensberry man Vladyslav Sirenko.

Novytskyi, 29 and with 15 straight wins on his clock, won the WBC International title with a first round KO of Keith Rydell Mayes Jr in July last year and successfully defended his belt in Riyadh in December by outpointing Edgar Ramirez in what was his second appearance in Saudi Arabia.

Sirenko, 30, who like Novytskyi resides in the US, will be in his first title action since winning the WBC Asian and WBO Asia Pacific championships with a defeat of Andrii Rudenko at the end of 2021.

He initially won his WBC belt with a first round stoppage of Aleksandr Ustinov earlier in the year in Paris.

Dropping down in weight to light heavy, Wembley will host another battle of unbeaten fighters between Daniel Lapin and Southampton man Lewis Edmondson.

Both men are 11-0, with Team Usyk man Lapin the WBA Continental and IBF Intercontinental champion, belts that were secured with victories over Octavio Pudivitr and Dylan Colin respectively.

Edmondson became British and Commonwealth champion via his defeat of former European champion Dan Azeez last year and he defended his Commonwealth crown against Oluwatosin Kejawa in March.