Usyk drops Dubois twice, knocks him 9th round

Oleksandr Usyk clam­bered off the canvas in the fifth round and to stop Daniel Dubois in the ninth round on a highly controversial night in Wroclaw, Poland.

The Ukrainian retained his WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF heavy­weight titles as a result of the fight, but he had to climb off the floor after he was downed by a right hand to the body which referee Luis Pabon judged to have been low.

However, replays showed that it was a borderline shot which might have been ruled as a legal blow on another night.

Dubois, who was not docked a point for the supposed infringe­ment, failed to capitalise on that moment in the fifth and within four rounds he was stopped by a right hand from the rejuvenated Usyk.

Just two days after Ukraine celebrated their Independence Day, Usyk brought this defence of his world heavyweight titles to a city with a large Ukrainian community.

Usyk nicked a close first round but it would have settled the nerves for Dubois, boxing for the first time since he was dropped three times in the first round before he stopped Kevin Lerena. However, after making a decent start to the second, Dubois was wobbled by a straight southpaw left midway

 through the round. Another one followed as Usyk began to turn up the heat early.

The fourth was better for Du­bois, who was starting to grow in confidence.

Usyk’s trademark movement also seemed to be affected by the wet canvas caused by the rain. And he was affected even more by an ap­parent low blow from Dubois early in the fifth, a right hand, which dropped him almost instantly.

Usyk stayed down for a long time and his arm was quivering in pain as he attempted to recover. Replays appeared to show the punch landed right on the belt line and could well have been legal.

ssAfter taking a number of min­utes to recover, Usyk and Dubois touched gloves and restarted the action but the champion seemed to be on unsteady legs.

The challenger, however, did not take his opportunity and it was Usyk who finished the round on top, snapping Dubois’ head back with a left hand. The sixth was a far more even round with Usyk still not totally comfortable and Dubois landed a crisp right hand on the bell.

Dubois appeared to have Usyk in trouble in the seventh round but it was the world champion who turned it around and piled on the pressure as the rain continued to pour.

That was until the final seconds of the eighth round when Usyk made a major breakthrough with a double jab, cross-hook-cross combination which forced Dubois to take a knee. He was just about to rise in time to beat the referee’s count and the bell rung before Usyk had a chance to pounce again.

But the champion was straight back to work in the ninth and the writing was, by now, on the wall. It was a pinpoint lead hook which closed the show, landing directly on Dubois’ chin, and although he attempted to get back to his feet, the referee waved it off.

The victory now clears the path for Usyk to face WBC champion, Tyson Fury, in Saudi Arabia early next year.

Usyk said: “I’m ready tomorrow. I’m ready. Next fight I am ready to fight Tyson Fury but does Tyson Fury want to? I have no idea. But I can’t wait to see my children and my family. I’m a little bit tired.” –Boxingscene.com

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