Oscar De La Hoya has weighed in on the controversy surrounding the fifth round low blow incident in last week’s heavyweight world title fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois.
Referee Luis Pabon adjudged that a right hand from Dubois, which sent Usyk crashing to the canvas, had strayed too far down to be considered legal and as such, the Ukrainian was allowed over three minutes to recover.
However, there are some observers who believe that the shot was legal, and that Dubois has reason to feel hard done – and De La Hoya is one of them.
In a recent interview with FightHub, the Golden Boy boss explained with his usual vigour why Pabon’s decision at the Wroclaw Stadium was an incorrect one.
“All these people who say, ‘Oh yeah it was a low blow’ – no it was not! It was a legal blow. What people do not understand is that his cup was up to here [gestures at waistline]. Your freaking balls are down here!
“Yes it was below the belt, but his belt was up to his freaking nipples. It came up from low, but when it connected it connected right there [pit of the stomach]. That’s not low.”
Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren and his trainer, Don Charles, were enraged by Pabon’s ruling, and accused Usyk of cheating to buy more time to recover and is set to demand the fight be changed to a no contest and an official rematch ordered.
The view of most pundits is that the shot was borderline, if not low, and thus Warren’s efforts are likely to be in vain.