Daniel Dubois was stopped for the second time of his career in a challenge for Oleksandr Usyk’s unified heavyweight world titles.
The Brit managed a knockdown against the flow of the fight in the fifth, but it was immediately deemed a low blow. Usyk would take an allotted three minute to recover and then quickly regain composure in the fight.
Outside of the low blow debate, some fans and fighters are putting a focus on the finish, with the likes of Tony Bellew believing young Dubois ‘spewed it’ by not getting up to beat the count.
In the ninth round and following a knockdown in the previous, Dubois was dropped and on one knee watching the referee count him out. He stood on nine and the fight was waved off. He didn’t protest.
The scenes were similar to the Brit’s loss to Joe Joyce, although he had a serious eye injury in that fight.
Speaking on TalkSPORT’s The Verdict, Carl Froch went easy on Dubois, but ultimately would have liked to see him ‘go out on his shield.’
“I just think I would’ve liked to have seen him go for broke with some big shots before he went over. But I wasn’t the taking the shots, I didn’t get hit with that right hand and go down.
Only he knows how he felt, but you can see from the trained eye – even the untrained eye – that he stood up on nine seconds. That means he could’ve stood up on eight and probably carried on.
I don’t think the result would’ve been any different. I think Usyk was coming for him and he probably knew it. He’s still young, 26-year-old, I think he’s got a really big future.
But at the minute, I would’ve liked to have seen him carry on in round nine. It was one punch, a jab or lead right hand that put him over. I’d have like to have seen him get up and go out on his shield, but that’s just me.”
Froch’s co-host on the podcast and former two-time opponent, George Groves, agreed, pointing to the fact that what was at stake for Dubois – three of the four world heavyweight titles – was too great to not give it everything.
“The hardest time to do something is the first time. So the hardest time to quit – if it is quitting – is the first time. And if he has thrown in the towel before, like we say in the Joyce fight, and it’s happened again. That’s the way it goes.
I think first world title fight, yeah I think you need to go out on your shield.”
Dubois’ team will lobby for a rematch due to controversy surrounding the referee’s decision to deem his shot in round five illegal.