IBO/IBF/WBA/WBO Heavyweight Challenge
Tonight’s Heavyweight Championship Main Event at the Stadion Wroclaw, Poland, between Undefeated Unified IBO/IBF/WBA/WBO/Ring Magazine Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 Kos) and WBA World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Dubois (19-2, 18 Kos), was a very entertaining bout but will forever be tainted by what transpired in the fifth round.
Usyk, who came out the gate confident as ever, dominated his opponent with ease as the rounds progressed but was met with a controversial incident in the fifth round when Dubois connected with a vicious body shot that brutally dropped Usyk to the ground to which the referee on hand shockingly ruled a low blow when it was clearly a well-placed legal body shot.
That moment was suspect if you ask me but the time that Usyk was permitted to recover before the fight resumed was just enough for him to return to form and continue his dominance.
Dubois failed miserably to capitalize on the fact that Usyk was still hurt from the body shot and showed no sense of real urgency round by round. Usyk on the other hand showed even more aggression while putting his own punches together throwing four-piece combinations and dropping Dubois for a quick 8 count late in the eighth round. Dubois was unraveling and showing fatigue and signs of breaking down. The inevitable was near and by the ninth round Usyk applied the right amount of pressure and connected with a well-placed right jab straight to the chin of Dubois dropping him once again but this time refusing to answer the count prompting the referee to wave the bout.
Although Usyk showed levels above Dubois inside that squared circle tonight and retained his IBO/IBF/WBA/WBO/Ring Magazine Championship Titles, the wrong call in the fifth round will always be in the back of everybody’s mind.
Just my thoughts.
Blaze