Experts say Dubois's punch that knocked down Usyk was a low blow..
Experts say Dubois's punch that knocked down Usyk was a low blow
Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk retained his WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight titles against Daniel Dubois with a ninth-round stoppage, but the fight wasn’t without controversy.
Usyk controlled the majority of proceedings, with his speed and footwork causing Dubois issues from the outset and the Brit never managed to establish his jab or any rhythm in the contest.
However, in the fifth round, Dubois landed a looping right hand to the body which sent the Ukrainian to the canvas, with replays showing the punch landing on the belt line. The referee immediately called it a low blow.
Usyk really struggled to get his breath back and was allowed over three minutes to recover.
It was undoubtedly the pivotal moment of the fight and one that seems to have split the boxing world, with some claiming it was clearly an illegal shot with others saying ‘DDD’ should now be the new heavyweight champion.
Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren said the referee made the wrong decision and called it a robbery – they will now be petitioning the WBA to declare the fight a no-contest or order an immediate rematch.
Former Usyk foe, Tony Bellew, made his feelings clear on the matter – declaring the punch a clear low blow.
“Anything below the naval is classed as low in boxing! That’s not my opinion that’s a FACT! That’s the rule! Your shorts shouldn’t cover your naval cos if they do the belt can be hit! This picture says a thousand words! Spew it once and you’ll spew it again is also another fact!”
If no action is taken Usyk will now either have to face his next mandatory, IBF number 1 ranked contender, Filip Hrgovic, or try once again to make an undisputed fight with Tyson Fury.
Also, Alexander Krassyuk, promoter for unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, says there is no doubt that his boxer was hit with a low blow.
"Do we have a definition of legal and illegal? The belly button is the line. Anything low of that is a low blow," Krassyuk said.
While Dubois is demanding a rematch, Krassyuk does not believe he deserves it.
He feels Dubois and his team were calculated with a set game plan to hit Usyk with low blows.
"Everyone wants the rematch after he loses a fight," Krassyuk said. "With all due respect to Daniel Dubois who is our guest and our opponent, it is difficult to express respect for the way they treated the fight, for the way they wanted to get the victory. Sometimes it happens when you hit someone with an illegal blow, Yeah it is normal. But when you keep doing this on purpose, it means you have some sort of dirty plan.
"Boxing is a pure art, a pure sport and it has to stay pure. That is why the guy has to deserve his rematch. Dirty performance means that you don’t care about what happens if you have some kind of strategy to use as leverage to develop your success. But how can we say now if this was a strategy or not? We saw several low blows."
