Oleksandr Usyk remains four-time heavyweight champion. In the process, the Ukrainian is sent to the ground in his fight against Daniel Dubois – there was a lot of fuss about the scene.
Oleksandr Usyk remains champion! The heavyweight boxer from Ukraine successfully defended his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO titles against Daniel Dubois. Usyk sent his opponent to the floor in the eighth and ninth rounds before the referee stopped the fight.
However, Usyk, who was celebrating his 21st win in 21 fights, was also hit hard once. In the fifth round, the 36-year-old was hit by a punch to the belt. The Ukrainian went down, visibly marked.
However, the referee did not count the defending champion out but ruled it an illegal low blow from Dubois.
Usyk opponent feels cheated
Which, of course, the latter saw completely differently. “That was not a low hit! That was a clean hit. I was cheated out of the win,” the Briton said. When his coach saw a replay of the scene, he shouted angrily: “How can that be a low blow?”
Dubois promoter Frank Warren suspected Usyk of being favoured because of his “home advantage”, boxing was in Wroclaw, Poland. He announced an appeal.
Uysk was originally supposed to fight WBC world champion Tyson Fury, but the mega-fight was cancelled.
