Usyk KOs Dubois, but it wasn’t without controversy
Goforitradio Staff
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On Saturday, unified(IBF/WBA/WBO) heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) dominated and defeated Daniel Dubois (19-2, 18 KOs) by ninth-round KO at Tarczyński Arena in Wroclaw, Poland.
The Ukranian dropped Dubois in the eighth, ultimately putting him away with a right hand in the ninth.
However, everyone is talking about what happened in the fifth round.
Dubois landed a right hand to the body that dropped Usyk; however, referee Luis Pabon did not begin a count and ruled immediately that it was a low blow. Usyk was given five minutes to recover.
According to Dubois, the blow was clean, and he should have won the fight.
“I didn’t think that was a low blow, and I’ve been cheated out of victory tonight,” Dubois said after the loss.
Usyk disagreed.
“You are not allowed to hit a man in his ba***,” he said.
The shot appeared to be low, but it was close. It was a judgment call by Pabon, and the champion got the benefit of the doubt. You do wonder if Pabon would have actually counted if Usyk would have gotten up in time. He appeared to be hurt, but maybe his reaction to the shot was a byproduct of him knowing it was called a low blow. In the end, we’ll never know.
In reality, Usyk dominated most of the fight. He was in complete control from start to finish.
Regarding Dubois, it appears he quit in this fight. He did seem to be really hurt in the ninth. However, it may have been a situation where he was gutted after not getting the knockout in the fifth.
With Dubois out of the way, Usyk can put his focus on WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who will battle MMA start Francis Ngannou in October, so if Fury can win the fight, which is expected, an undisputed clash can happen.
Let’s hope we get an undisputed clash at heavyweight sooner than later.
