Heavyweight contender Daniel Dubois 19-2 (18) has reacted furiously to what he sees as a bad call that cost him WBC, WBO and IBF world championship belts.
The 25-year-old Brit challenged reigning champion Oleksandr Usyk 21-0 (14) at Stadion Wroclaw in Wroclaw, Poland on Saturday night, eventually losing by ninth-round knockout.
But the really drama happened in the fifth round when a right hand to the body hit Ukrainian southpaw Usyk, 36, on the belt line.
Usyk went down and the blow was ruled low by referee Luis Pabon. He was given a full five minutes to recover from his injury.
Boxing Twitter blew up immediately questioning whether or not the punch should have been ruled a foul.
Not surprisngly, Dubois says he was hard done by.
“I don’t think that was a low blow,” Dubois said. “I’ve been cheated out of victory tonight. That was a win.”
Watching the replay, Dubois added: “How is that low? How is that low? That’s my question. Look at it! Play it again!”
Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren was equally miffed.
“It wasn‘t a low blow… I like Usyk, but that was a complete hometown decision,” he fumed. “He won that fight because he was not fit to go on and they gave him a couple of minutes to recover from a legitimate shot.
“It’s total nonsense. How long did he get to recover? The governing bodies will have to look at that and order a rematch. We will order appeal what’s happened here.
“Justice has to be done… That was bullshit!”
Usyk made light of the situation in his post-fight interview, saying of the renowned puncher: “Boxing is a tough sport but I’m great. I love boxing. I respect my opponent but it’s boxing, it’s not ballet. Do I rate his power? No. Only in my balls.”
TNT Sports’ Carl Frampton firmly believes Usyk should have his first professional loss on his record, no ifs, buts and maybes.
“That was never a low blow and Usyk should have been counted out,” he said. “Daniel Dubois should be world champion.”
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger was fine with referee Pabon’s call.
“That shot looked pretty low to me,” he wrote on Twitter. “His trunks are high. You can see it clearly hit Usyk low. Good officiating from Luis Pabon. #UsykDubois”
Others on social media were furious about the decision.
“Dubois was robbed tonight,” wrote 27 Club!. “Oleksandr Usyk is a great man and a great champion but the 25-year-old Brit put him down with a clean and fair blow to the navel that was spun as a low blow. Bollocks. It wasn’t. Glory to Ukraine, but boxing embarrasses itself again. #UsykDubois”
Mark Wright agreed, tweeting: “Absolute liberty!! Robbery!! Dubois has won this fight. WTF!! Giving Usyk minutes to recover from a fair punch that hurt him massively!!”
Whichever way you look at it, you can be assured that this single punch will be debated for years to come.
