ESPN
Oleksandr Usyk defeated Daniel Dubois to defend his heavyweight titles, but not without controversy.
In the fifth round, Usyk was dropped by a vicious Dubois body punch on the belt line that was called a low blow.
Coup… Pas si bas ? 👀
L'arbitre a accordé 5 minutes à Usyk pour se remettre de ce coup considéré comme sous la ceinture #UsykDubois pic.twitter.com/tXHxQ9V7ju
— CANAL+ Sport (@CanalplusSport) August 26, 2023
Dubois knocks out Usyk with a body shot to the bladder but gets called as a low blow… pic.twitter.com/JaIrZ2xC33
— Muliani (@MulianiEnt) August 26, 2023
Usyk would recover and knock out Dubois in the 9th round.
Oleksandr Usyk TKOs Daniel DuBois pic.twitter.com/m3CVc3BmYh
— Will (@ChillemDafoe) August 26, 2023
Some boxing fans believed Dubois was robbed due to the low blow call in the fifth.
This was incorrectly ruled a low blow. This should have been a knockout win for Daniel Dubois. The ref incorrectly warned Dubois for clean body shots AND the ref encouraged Usyk to take more time when Usyk said he was ready to fight. Just egregiously bad by the ref pic.twitter.com/wVWETUcCNI
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) August 26, 2023
Dubois was robbed tonight. Oleksandr Usyk is a great man and a great champion but the 25-year-old Brit put him down with a clean and fair blow to the navel that was spun as a low blow. Bollocks. It wasn't. Glory to Ukraine, but boxing embarrasses itself again. #UsykDubois pic.twitter.com/QLP7awIjQ4
— 27 Club! (@hassan_joks) August 26, 2023
Boxing expert Dan Rafael believes Dubois’ punch was a low blow.
Let's be clear: The shot in the 5th round was 100% a low blow. Glove totally in the white below the belt line of Usyk's trunks, which were pretty low to begin with. #boxing #UsykDubois
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) August 26, 2023
Update: Dubois believes he was cheated by the ref.
"I've been cheated out of victory"
Daniel Dubois reacts to the controversial shot that was called a low blow where Usyk took four minutes to recover 🗣
Do you believe it was a legal shot? 🤔
🎬 @boxingontnt #UsykDubois | #DanielDubois | #BoxingNews pic.twitter.com/SZmSU1fB1b
— IFL TV (@IFLTV) August 26, 2023
Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren plans to appeal Dubois’ loss and is demanding a rematch.
‼️ Frank Warren has declared that they will appeal Daniel Dubois' knockout defeat to Oleksandr Usyk over the round five body shot/low blow KO controversy and said he believes that the sanctioning bodies will order a rematch.
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) August 26, 2023