Oleksandr Usyk v Daniel Dubois: undisputed heavyweight championship - live updates

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2m ago 17.19 EDT Buffer has made the fighter introductions. The final instructions have been given by referee Mike Griffin, the seconds are out and we’ll pick it up with round-by-round coverage from here! Share

20m ago 17.00 EDT Lawrence Okolie has beaten Kevin Lerena by a unanimous decision in the final undercard bout. Now it’s time for the main event. Ring announcer Michael Buffer has taken his position and we’ll have the playing of a couple of national anthems before the fighters make their entrances. View image in fullscreen Lawrence Okolie lands a left hand on hos way to victory over Kevin Lerena. Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA Share Updated at 17.06 EDT

29m ago 16.51 EDT Could be something, could be nothing. But Daniel Dubois didn’t arrive at Wembley until around 8.20pm tonight, less than two hours before the scheduled ring entrances and long after Oleksandr Usyk had started having his hands wrapped. Share

42m ago 16.38 EDT Donald McRae Our man in the building Donald McRae has checked in with a dispatch from ringside. It’s good to be ringside for this one as at the last few big shows in the UK most of us humble boxing hacks have been shunted up into the gods. Ninety thousand fans are expected tonight, which is 6,000 less than last September when Daniel Dubois shocked Anthony Joshua and many in British boxing by crushing his older rival. But it’s still an impressive crowd as Dubois lacks the kind of vast following Joshua and Tyson Fury have built up over the last dozen years. The main undercard fight between Lawrence Okolie, campaigning as a heavyweight now, and the South African Kevin Lerena is approaching the later rounds. Okolie can be a destructive puncher and Lerena knocked down Dubois multiple times during their slu-fest in 2022. But this scrap is a more typical Okokie bout – low on thrills and high on tedium. At the moment there is a low hum around Wembley which only breaks out into something more enthusiastic when the bell rings for the end of another round and one of the usual old fight-night ditties is cranked up. In contrast to Okolie and Lerena, Jake Paul caught the attention of the crowd who responded with deep and sustained booing when he arrived 30 minutes ago with his fiancée, the Dutch speed skating star Jutta Leerdam. But we’re all really just waiting for the lights to dim and Usyk and Dubois to make their ring walks. The atmosphere then, unlike now, will be electric … View image in fullscreen Lawrence Okolie punches Kevin Lerena during the final undercard bout at Wembley. Photograph: Richard Pelham/Getty Images Share

47m ago 16.33 EDT Also here at Wembley is Hamzah Sheeraz, the rising British star fresh off his career-best win last Saturday in New York. Fighting in the main event of a Ring Magazine card at Louis Armstrong Stadium – the first boxing show ever held at the US Open tennis venue – the 26-year-old from Ilford dropped Edgar Berlanga twice in the fourth round before finishing him just 17 seconds into the fifth. It was a spectacular 168lb debut for Sheeraz, who rebounded from a frustrating draw at middleweight in February with a headling-grabbing performance under new trainer Andy Lee. View image in fullscreen Saudi boxing supremo Turki al-Sheikh, left, English boxer Hamzah Sheeraz, center, meet with actor Jason Statham during the undercard bouts on Saturday at Wembley. Photograph: Daniel Hambury/EPA Share

1h ago 16.16 EDT Lawrence Okolie and Kevin Lerena are just under way in the final preliminary of the evening, a scheduled 12-round heavyweight bout. Before that, Daniel Lapin extended his unbeaten run to 12-0 with a mostly forgettable points win over Lewis Edmondson in a 10-round light heavyweight scrap. The Ukrainian southpaw edged it on two of the three scorecards, 96–94, while the third judge had it even at 95–95, a reflection of a fight short on clean action and high on clinches. Edmondson, coming off two strong wins including a breakout performance against Dan Azeez, struggled to find rhythm against the awkward 6ft 6in Lapin. Both men were guilty of excessive holding, and referee Marcus McDonnell repeatedly intervened to separate them and issue warnings. Lapin landed occasional left hands, while Edmondson responded with sporadic right hooks, but neither fighter was able to impose their will. The contest deteriorated into a maul by the later rounds, drawing ironic cheers from the crowd. In the end, Lapin’s slightly sharper work down the stretch proved just enough. View image in fullscreen Daniel Lapin was nearly sent over the top rope twice during the eighth round of Saturday’s fight with Lewis Edmondson. Photograph: Richard Pelham/Getty Images Share

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