Daniel Dubois fell in the ninth round of his first world title shot, stopped by Oleksandr Usyk who continues on as unified heavyweight champion.
The Brit stepped through the ropes a big underdog and, for the most part, the action matched the odds.
Following a contentious low blow in the fifth round – after which Usyk was seriously hurt for the first time in his career – Dubois ‘lost momentum’ and was dropped in the eighth, stopped one round later.
Time is on the 25-year-old’s side, who banked rounds in Poland against one of the sport’s very best. Many continue to regard him as a future world champion.
And that time to build back looks necessary given the WBA’s August rankings update, which sees Dubois drop from ‘Regular’ champion above the number one slot all the way out of the top five down to number seven.
He is now framed by prospect Jared Anderson at eight and Arslanbek Makhmudov at six. Despite the Regular belt that the 25-year-old entered the contest with now being defunct, the sanctioning body has immediately awarded it to Mahmoud Charr in a strange turn of events.
The top five is Deontay Wilder, Martin Bakole, Anthony Joshua, Lenier Pero and Jarrell Miller.
The team behind Dubois will believe that his new ranking with the organisation won’t matter, as they are confident a forthcoming appeal for the fight to be deemed a no contest will be successful.
Promoter Frank Warren believes that the evidence they provide to the WBA surrounding round five’s low blow controversy will be sufficient to at least have a rematch ordered.
As things stand, Usyk moves ahead to his next mandatory challenger, Filip Hrgovic. The Croatian heavyweight’s team told Boxing Social that they have no intention of stepping aside to allow negotiations with Tyson Fury for an undisputed bout.