By Jake Tiernan: Oleksandr Usyk insists he would have gotten to his feet and continued fighting if the referee had begun giving him a count when he was dropped by a mighty right hand from Daniel Dubois that landed square on the beltline of his trunks last Saturday night.
It’s impossible to believe IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) would have gotten up to continue fighting Dubois (19-2, 18 KOs) if the referee Luis Pabon had given him a count.
Dubois would have been all over Usyk if he’d gotten back to his feet right away, and he would have been finished off without a prolonged recovery period, which he was given.
What looked bad on Usyk’s part was the way he kept looking at the referee for assistance when Dubois would hit him hard to the body. It looked like Usyk was playing to the referee to protect him because he couldn’t handle the hard punches he was taking from Dubois.
As it is, the 36-year-old Usyk was down for three minutes, and when the action resumed after close to five minutes, he was in serious distress for the remainder of the round, wilting with everybody shot Dubois hit him with.
In slow-motion replay, one could see that Dubois’ punch landed on the beltline of Usyk’s trunks, which appeared to be pulled up high the way that Tyson Fury’s normally are.
It’s obviously too late to change what happened in the fight, as the referee rruled it a low blow, and the chances of a rematch being ordered are zero.
Moving forward, though, you can bet a couple of things will come from this:
- Usyk’s midsection will be targeted nonstop by his opponents
- Opponents will insist on Usyk’s trunks not be pulled up so high
- Referees will be less forgiving if Usyk looks to them for help each time he’s struck to the body
“For me, 100%, if the referee started to count, I would have definitely jumped up,” said Oleksandr Usyk to Boxing King Media about his fifth round low blow knockdown against Daniel Dubois.
“I would be on my feet. It would be hard for me to recuperate and come back to my normal state, but there is no doubt that I would be up,” Usyk continued.
“It’s not a good thing when people try to get the victory using those dirty tactics. You cannot win by being dirty. You have to be clear.
“You better ask Daniel Dubois this question,” said Usyk when asked if he thought Dubois quit in ninth round.
