Oleksandr Usyk knocks out Daniel Dubois in round nine of heavyweight world title fight in Poland
Unified Ukrainian champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14KO) knocked out British challenger Daniel Dubois (19-2, 18KO) in the ninth round to retain his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight world titles.
Usyk, fighting in front of a partisan 40,000-strong crowd in Poland, knocked Dubois down at the end of round eight with a flurry of shots, then in the next round, he sent a tiring Dubois to the canvas once again with a strong right jab that snapped his head to the side. This time, Dubois didn't beat the count.
But the fight did not come without it's controversy as the Londoner knocked the champion down in round five, but was given a few minutes to recover as it was ruled a low blow. Post-fight, trainer Don Charles, promoter Frank Warren, and Daniel Dubois himself were furious that the punch they considered to be legal was ruled low.
The punch from Dubois appeared to catch Usyk on the belt of his white shorts and he immediately fell to the floor while gesticulating that the blow had been low, and Puerto Rican referee Luis Pabon agreed.
After the fight, Dubois claimed that his punch was legal and that he had been "cheated" out of the title. His promoter Frank Warren called it a "complete home decision" and vowed to appeal to the governing bodies to order a rematch.
Manager Alex Krassyuk immediately dismissed the Brit's claims, "We are not arguing. Why should we argue about legal or illegal. It was an absolutely dominating performance. He won every round, then he knocked the guy out. He won. He purely won."
Reactions
Amir Khan: "Was never a low shot."
Matt Marsh: "Right in the nuts, twice!"
Paddy Barnes: "Dubois should be World Champ. Never a low blow."
Eric Donovan: "It's not a low blow. That should have been a 10 count. 100%"
Tim Rickson: "Don Charles was insistent that the glove landed directly on the waistband and was furious about it, but for me, a lot of the glove landed under the waistline so it was a low blow. I can understand why they are questioning it, but any appeal will surely be denied once the evidence is reviewed, so I can't see any rematch on the horizon."
James Melville: "This absolutely isn’t a low blow. Dubois was totally robbed here. Usyk should have been counted out for a fair punch."
Sheeraz sheens WBC Silver title
British fighter Hamzah Sheeraz defended his Middleweight Silver title by defeating previously undefeated Ukrainian Dmytro Mytrofanov.
Sheeraz dropped his opponent twice with sharp, pinpoint punches in the first round and then dropped Mytrofanov in the second with a crushing right hand, prompting the Referee to stop the fight.
Sheeraz’s record improves to 18-0 (with 14 knockout wins), while Mytrofanov sags to 13-1-1.
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