Daniel Dubois has expressed his dissatisfaction with the refereeing in his loss to Oleksandr Usyk, claiming a blow deemed illegal and resulting in recovery time for Usyk should have been considered legal, ultimately costing him the heavyweight title match.
Daniel Dubois expressed dissatisfaction with the refereeing of his Oleksandr Usyk title fight. Following a ninth-round knockout in Saturday’s heavyweight title bout at the Tarczyński Arena Wrocław in Poland, Dubois was disappointed, especially after getting dropped in the end seconds of Round 8. There was controversy however, when Dubois dropped Usyk in Round 5 with a powerful, middle-section punch that was dismissed as illegal by referee Luis Pabon. Despite Usyk’s desire to continue, Pabon enforced a recovery period.
As the official result was announced, Dubois and his team felt the sting of foul play, particularly considering the overwhelming Ukrainian support for Usyk in the crowd. In his post-fight interview, Dubois stated, “I didn’t think that was a low blow. I thought that landed [legally] and I’ve been cheated out of victory tonight.” Dubois’ promoter, Frank Warren, echoed his sentiment, underscoring his belief that his fighter was unfairly denied a win, and his dissatisfaction with the referee’s judgement.
This fight had consequences for Usyk as well, who successfully defended his WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles. The victory kept him in the running for a future title unification bout with Tyson Fury, after Fury’s Oct. 28 fight with former UFC champion Francis Ngannou. In the meantime, Dubois, having a record of 19 wins and 2 losses, and his team continue to seek justice for the win they claim was unfairly against them.
Dubois left no ambiguity about his feelings, saying, “I’ve been cheated out of a shot. That was a win tonight.” Frank Warren also commented, arguing that the fight was handled unjustly. He suggested the governing bodies may need to intervene and possibly order a rematch. Warren said, “[We’re going to] appeal what’s going on here and then see we’ll see where it goes from there, but I’m quite sure they’ll order another rematch, order another fight. They have to. Justice has to be done.”