Oleksandr Usyk defended his title against Daniel Dubois

The defense by the outstanding Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk of three championship belts – the International Boxing Federation (IBF), the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) – and the status of the king of heavyweight from a routine event turned into a high-profile event with a scandalous shade due to the incident in the fifth round of his fight with Briton Daniel Dubois. In it, Usyk, who had an overwhelming advantage and ended the fight with a knockout in the ninth round, himself was on the verge of disaster, but was saved by referee Luis Pabon, who considered that Dubois had knocked down the favorite with a forbidden low blow. The applicant’s representatives are ready to protest this decision, which seemed controversial to many well-known boxers.

This fight, which took place in Wroclaw, Poland, at a football stadium filled mainly with Oleksandr Usyk fans, could have taken a completely inconspicuous place in the history of boxing. He, in fact, looked almost like a passerby for a Ukrainian. The status of the king of heavyweight, along with three championship belts, Usyk received twice in a row, in 2021 And 2022, defeating the famous Anthony Joshua. Then he had to fight for the title of absolute champion with the owner of the fourth belt – the World Boxing Council (WBC) – Tyson Fury. But something in the negotiations on the arrangement of this duel went wrong, he broke And had to fight against the World Boxing Association-appointed challenger Daniel Dubois, who, of course, against the background of both Joshua and Fury, looked like an unsightly opponent. In a word, such a routine that is constantly encountered in the life of any outstanding fighter: it’s impossible to hold matches with a special aura all the time, sometimes you need to deal with those who are inferior to you in the class on duty.

The style of the battle itself as a whole also did not differ in originality. In fact, the whole of it was an illustration of the most banal predictions, according to which it would be terribly difficult for a rather clumsy, not accustomed to high speed Dubois opponent with a mobile opponent who is sensitive to distance.

Usyk’s superiority in this sense was overwhelming. He regularly got Dubois with a jab, and he gracefully walked away from other people’s attacks. And the Ukrainian finished the fight logically and effectively.

It was clear that the position of Daniel Dubois would become especially unpleasant in the later rounds, when fatigue accumulated. In the eighth, exhausted by the movements and injections of Oleksandr Usyk, the Briton lost concentration and ran into a series of four hits to the head. The knockdown was deep, and Dubois was able to continue the fight, it seems, only because soon after he got up, the gong sounded. However, the continuation was short-lived. In the ninth round, Usyk, who was not at all embarrassed by the rain that poured in Wroclaw, finished off the applicant.

Nevertheless, this battle still entered history. Because of the only episode that diluted the routine that reigned in the ring so that it subsequently caused a real storm. Essentially, Daniel Dubois’ entire career is built on the effective use of the “puncher’s” chance. The set of his qualities is very modest, but Dubois knows how to beat. And in the fifth round, those who were rooting for him probably thought that the Briton’s talent came to the rescue again. And now in a duel in which he was doomed.

Dubois suddenly exploded with a simple left and right combination. The right one crashed somewhere in the abdomen of Usyk, and the Ukrainian sat on the floor, leaning against the ropes.

It was too clear from the champion’s face how much pain he was in, too clear that this pain would not allow him to stand up right away.

But Luis Pabon, one of the most experienced referees in professional boxing, instantly gestured that the blow had been delivered below the belt. And this means that neither a knockdown, nor even a knockout is recorded, and the victim is given time to recover. Oleksandr Usyk was recovering, digesting the hit, for about four minutes. And in a pause on the stadium scoreboards repeated the moment. And if VAR were used in professional boxing, as in football, colleagues would no doubt ask Pabon to take a closer look at it. In fact, from the point of view of a person who was not very initiated into the intricacies of boxing, it was a hit not below the belt, but exactly, a tutelka in a tutelka, precisely in the wide belt of Usyk’s underpants, who came to his senses, and then convincingly brought the matter to an early victory.

After Usyk’s victory was officially recorded, passions ran high. Daniel Dubois ignored the press conference, confining himself to stating that he had been “deceived”.

The promoter of the British, Frank Warren, was indignant, explaining that if the blow was illegal, then Pabon was obliged to remove a point from his ward. But he didn’t take it off… Warren was also sure that he was faced with judicial arbitrariness, and promised to file a protest against the result of the fight, seeking to declare it invalid or at least an immediate revenge. Dubois’ coach Don Charles admitted that he “has no words” to express his outrage.

Naturally, many boxing stars also spoke about the state of emergency. And some of them – Oscar De La Hoya, Carl Frampton, Josh Taylor – also did not agree with Luis Pabon’s interpretation of the controversial episode, which, however, is unlikely to have any impact on the development of Oleksandr Usyk’s career. Protests in professional boxing are usually pointless. In any case, Usyk, apparently, is still determined to arrange a duel with Tyson Fury as soon as possible, saying that he is ready to cross with him “already tomorrow.” “Tomorrow”, however, will obviously not come soon, since Fury has already appointed on October 28, a strange match against Francis Ngannou, who escaped from the UFC, the main promotion in mixed martial arts. So, on the other hand, there may still be a slot for revenge against the offended Dubois.

Alexey Dospekhov