Daniel Dubois lost out on the unified world heavyweight titles when he was stopped by champion Oleksandr Usyk in the ninth round of their contest.
The Ukrainian dominated most of the proceedings, save for a moment in the fifth round that has consumed all of the post-fight conversation.
Dubois landed what he and his team believe to be a clean body shot, but the referee immediately indicated a low blow and gave Usyk over three minutes to recover.
The champion got back into his rhythm not long after, dropping Dubois twice to earn a stoppage victory. Post-fight, he was asked if Dubois carried great power. He said no – ‘only when it’s my balls.’
In one of his first reactions to the loss, the Brit said that the only low blow was the one he metaphorically suffered from the referee. Commendably, he paid respect to Usyk as well.
“I respect the man. A great Champ who gave me a hard fight and one I will learn from, but the only hit in the balls last night was the one I suffered when I didn’t get my arm raised after I landed this shot.”
I respect the man. A great Champ who gave me a hard fight and one I will learn from, but the only hit in the balls last night was the one I suffered when I didn’t get my arm raised after I landed this shot. pic.twitter.com/b9Hn7yguQD
— Daniel Dubois (@DynamiteDubois) August 27, 2023
Promoter Frank Warren has announced that he will be lodging an appeal with the sanctioning body – in this case the WBA – for the fight to be deemed a no contest and a rematch to be called.
Don Charles, the trainer of Dubois, has labelled the Ukrainian a cheat, and said that the tactic of claiming shots are low is something he’s done in the past.
The general consensus is that the result will stand, and Usyk looks ahead to either his next mandatory challenger or an undisputed fight against Tyson Fury.
As for Dubois, he rebuilds. At 25-years-old, there is plenty to take away from that fight with a future Hall of Famer. That, understandably given his views on the low blow call, won’t be much to appreciate for now.