British knockout artist Daniel Dubois is the new interim WBA heavyweight champion, the fifth title-holder in the same weight division.
Dubois beat Bogdan Dinu on Saturday night in Telford, a fighter who got boosted in the rankings on the back of two wins over awful opposition.
Before that, Dinu had lost back-to-back bouts to contenders and was in no position to be number two in the ratings.
Having lost his previous bout to Joe Joyce, Dubois shouldn’t have been ranked highly either. But this is the WBA, after all.
Spare a thought for Joyce, though. The Olympic silver medalist was supposed to fight for the vacant WBO title against Oleksandr Usyk until a judge ordered Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III.
Now, “The Juggernaut” faces a drop-down to European title level to battle Marco Huck for the blue belt later this year.
A purse bid is set for next week.
Back to last night and in two nothing rounds, Dubois took Dinu out to become the next in line to face “regular champion” Trevor Bryan.
He joins Anthony Josuha [super champion], Robert Helenius [gold champion], and “champion in recess” Mahmoud Charr on the WBA rulers list.
Speaking in his post-fight interview with BT Sport, Dubois said: “It’s been a rough ride, and I’m glad to be back.”
"It's been a rough ride and I'm glad to be back."@DynamiteDubois stuck to instructions and got the huge knockout ????
Caroline Dubois qualified for the Olympics today too. A great night for his family ???? #DuboisDinu pic.twitter.com/UfLJIb1pVu
— Boxing on BT Sport ???? (@BTSportBoxing) June 5, 2021
WBA HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONS
SUPER CHAMPION – ANTHONY JOSHUA GBR
WORLD CHAMPION – TREVOR BRYAN USA
INTERIM CHAMPION – DANIEL DUBOIS GBR
CHAMPION IN RECESS – MAHMOUD CHARR LIB
WBA GOLD CHAMPION – ROBERT HELENIUS FIN
WBA HEAVYWEIGHT RANKINGS BEFORE DUBOIS FIGHT
1 OLEKSANDR USYK UKR
2 BOGDAN DINU ROU
3 DEONTAY WILDER USA
4 LUIS ORTIZ CUB
5 ANDY RUIZ JR USA
6 ADAM KOWNACKI POL
7 CHARLES MARTIN USA
8 CHRIS ARREOLA USA
9 AGIT KABAYEL CON GER
10 DANIEL DUBOIS GBR
11 EFE AJAGBA NIG
12 FRANK SANCHEZ FAURE CUB
13 OTTO WALLIN SWE
14 ZHAN KOSSOBUTSKIY INT KAZ
15 MICHAEL COFFIE USA
