Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois was a heavyweight professional boxing match between WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and WBA (Regular) heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois.
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| Date | 26 August 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Stadion Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, TBRB and The Ring heavyweight titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Usyk wins via 9th-round KO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The bout took place on 26 August 2023 at Stadion Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland. Usyk defeated Dubois via knockout in the 9th round.[1]
Background
editOn 6 July 2023, it was announced that Usyk would defend his heavyweight titles against mandatory WBA challenger Dubois. Dubois became the mandatory challenger to Usyk after he defeated Trevor Bryan On 11 June 2022, by knockout in the fourth round to become the WBA (Regular) heavyweight champion. This was then followed up with a victory over and defence of his WBA (Regular) heavyweight title against Kevin Lerena on 3 December 2022. This set up a mandatory challenge to Usyk for the WBA (Super) heavyweight championship.[2][3][4][5]
The fight
editUsyk retained his titles via ninth-round stoppage, however there was controversy surrounding the events of the fifth round, when Usyk dropped to the canvas following a punch from Dubois that was controversially ruled a low blow by referee Luis Pabon. Accordingly, Usyk was given a maximum of five minutes to recover, but despite declaring he was ready to continue, Pabon urged Usyk to take more time out. Usyk ultimately used three minutes and forty-five seconds before the fight resumed. Usyk forced Dubois to take a knee in the eighth round and again in the ninth round, where he was counted out.[6][7] According to CompuBox stats, Usyk had outlanded Dubois in every round of the fight, landing 88 of 359 punches thrown (24.5%) to Dubois' 47 of 290 (16.2%). Dubois failed to land double digits in any round of the fight.[8]
Debate subsequently followed regarding the fifth round low blow as many observers felt it should actually have been ruled a legal punch and thus potentially resulted in a KO victory for Dubois. In his post-fight interview, Dubois opined: "I didn’t think that was a low blow. I thought that landed, and I’ve been cheated out of victory tonight.” However, Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk argued "The belly button is the line. Anything low of that is a low blow." This argument was echoed by others including boxers Tony Bellew and Liam Smith.[9][10][11]
Aftermath
editUsyk would agree to an undisputed showdown with Tyson Fury set for 17 February 2024 (later pushed back to 18 May). Usyk would go on to beat Fury and become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the current four-belt era (WBA-WBC-IBF-WBO) since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Fight card
edit| Weight Class | vs. | Method | Round | Time | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Card | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Oleksandr Usyk (c) | def. | Daniel Dubois | KO | 9 (12) | 1:48 | Note 1 |
| Super Welterweight | Aadam Hamed | def. | Vojtech Hrdý | TKO | 1 (4) | 2:09 | Note 2 |
| Lightweight | Denys Berinchyk (c) | def. | Anthony Yigit | UD | 12 | Note 3 | |
| Heavyweight | Hamzah Sheeraz (c) | def. | Dmytro Mytrofanov | TKO | 2 (12) | 0:35 | Note 4 |
| Middleweight | Anauel Ngamissengue | def. | Fiodor Czerkaszyn | MD | 8 | ||
| Light heavyweight | Daniel Lapin | def. | Aro Schwartz | TKO | 6 (10) | 2:25 | Note 5 |
| Preliminary Card | |||||||
| Featherweight | Oleksandr Solomennikov | def. | Piotr Gudel | UD | 1 (6) | 2:41 | |
| Super Lightweight | Ziyad Al Maayouf | def. | János Pénzes | UD | 6 | ||
| Super Lightweight | Bryce Mills | def. | Damian Tymosz | UD | 6 | ||
| Welterweight | Vasyl Chebotar | def. | Joel Julio | TKO | 6 (8) | 1:15 | |
| Heavyweight | Lazizbek Mullojonov | def. | Nursultan Amanzholov | TKO | 1 (6) | 2:13 | |
| Middleweight | Rafal Wolczecki | def. | Roberto Arriaza | TKO | 3 (8) | 2:59 | |
| Lightweight | Yaroslav Khartsyz | def. | Konrad Tchaikovsky | UD | 4 | ||
^Note 1 For WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring World Heavyweight championships
^Note 2 Hamed's professional debut
^Note 3 For WBO International lightweight championship
^Note 4 For WBC Silver Middleweight championship
^Note 5 For vacant IBO Continental Light Heavyweight championship
Broadcasting
edit| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
| Worldwide (unsold markets) | Triller TV |
 Australia |
Main Event |
 Canada |
TSN+ |
 Poland
|
Megogo |
 Ukraine
| |
 United Kingdom |
TNT Sports Box Office |
 United States |
ESPN+ |
References
edit- ^ Dennen, John (26 August 2023). "Oleksandr Usyk recovers to floor and knock out Daniel Dubois in unified heavyweight title fight - 'Tyson Fury next!'". SkySports.
- ^ Mike Coppinger (6 July 2023). "Oleksandr Usyk to defend world titles against Daniel Dubois". ESPN.
- ^ "Full Fury vs Chisora undercard finally revealed for Dec 3 Pay Per View". worldboxingnews.net. 29 November 2022.
- ^ "Boxing's greatest showman the star as Daniel Dubois chases heavyweight gold in Miami". The Independent. 10 June 2022.
- ^ "Daniel Dubois knocks out American Trevor Bryan to win WBA 'regular' heavyweight title". BBCSport. 11 June 2022.
- ^ "Usyk vs Dubois LIVE: Results tonight after controversial low blow". The Independent. 2023-08-26. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
- ^ "Oleksandr Usyk knocks out Daniel Dubois after 'low blow' controversy | DAZN News GB". DAZN. 2023-08-26. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
- ^ August 2023, Kerr Ferguson on 27th (2023-08-27). "Scorecards And Punch Stats From Usyk-Dubois Show Complete Control". boxing-social.com. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "'I was cheated' - Dubois rages after defeat by Usyk". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
- ^ "Should 'distraught' Dubois be world champion?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
- ^ August 2023, Kerr Ferguson on 27th (2023-08-27). ""It Was Low!" Fighters React To Usyk-Daniel Dubois Low Blow Controversy". boxing-social.com. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Usyk vs Dubois results, start time, live stream, how to watch, main event, undercard". fightmag.com.au. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
- ^ "Oleksandr Usyk V Daniel Dubois as it happened - Oleksandr Usyk stops Daniel Dubois in ninth round". eurosport.com. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
- ^ "'Prince' Naseem Hamed's son Aadam wins one-sided first fight". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
- ^ "Khartsyz got his third victory in the professional ring". athletistic.com. Retrieved 2023-08-26.