Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois: LIVE updates, official results, full coverage
Oleksandr Usyk overcame a bizarre fifth round — in which he went down from a disputable low blow — to stop Daniel Dubois 48 seconds into the ninth round and retain his three heavyweight titles.
Usyk controlled almost the entire fight with his jab and accurate combinations, which gave him a big lead on the scorecards after eight rounds.
Dubois was competitive in the fight but was clearly outworked by a better, more experienced boxer to lose round after round.
However, Usyk arguably should’ve lost the fight and his belts. A right from Dubois landed squarely on the beltline — just below the top of Usyk’s trunks — and the champion collapsed to the canvas.
Referee Luis Pabon ruled it a low blow and then gave Usyk five minutes to recover from the “foul.” With Pabon’s encouragement, Usyk took almost the entire time allotted.
After that. Usyk went back to dominating the fight.
The Ukrainian, fighting in front of many war refugees from his country in neighboring Poland. put a tiring Dubois down for the first of two times with a flurry of shots in the final seconds of Round 8.
Then, in the following round, a short right hand from the southpaw put Dubois on the canvas again. He seemed to be in the process of getting up when Pabon stopped the fight.
You can read a full report here.
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Oleksandr Usyk is scheduled to defend his three heavyweight titles against Daniel Dubois on Saturday night at Stadion Wroclaw in Wroclaw, Poland (ESPN+).
Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) will be making the second defense of the IBF, WBA and WBO belts he won by outpointing Anthony Joshua in September 2021.
Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs) has won four consecutive fights since he was stopped by Joe Joyce in 10 rounds in November 2020. He’ll be fighting for major titles for the first time.
Usyk weighed in Friday at 220.9 pounds, slightly less than he weighed for his two fights with Joshua. Dubois came in at 233.2, his lowest weight since 2017.
The featured bouts on the card begin at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT. The main event will take place later in the show.
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Full coverage – a fight story, photo gallery and analysis – will follow on separate posts the night of the fight and the following day.
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