The punch was a low blow for one simple, undeniable reason. Referee Luis Pabon said it was a low blow. That's all that matters. You can't even say Pabon blew the call. A lot of knowledgeable boxing fans on this forum have looked at the same still shots and the same slowed down video and have come to completely different conclusions. That being the case, you can't say Pabon, who had to make an instantaneous decision blew what is obviously a 50-50 call. As for me personally, I thought the punch was borderline but it does seem to me that Usyk's instant reaction was that of a man being hit where he shouldn't have been hit. You can definitely fault Pabon for his actions after the low blow. About two minutes into the 5th round delay I posted in the RBR that I was impressed with Pabon for not rushing Usyk when a lot of refs seem to do just the opposite. Then Pabon fell apart. I have no idea why, once Usyk said he was ready to go, Pabon kept telling him to take more time. The idea is to get the fight started as soon as the hurt fighter is ready to go. What he did was a bit ridiculous. Other than the controversial punch, Dubois looked pretty lost. He didn't have a Plan B. In fact, it barely seemed like he had a Plan A. He landed a few good shots here and there but never put together anything resembling a sustained offensive attack. He really never had a chance of winning except for the proverbial puncher's chance. It certainly seems like Dubois quit. It was a pretty good shot that put him down but nothing he couldn't have recovered from. He quit in the way that many of Vasyl Lomachenko's foes quit. They just didn't have any answers and were sick of getting hit. Dubois and his people are now saying he was waiting to get up and that may be true. Pabon said nine and Dubois was still on his knees, then he got up right before Pabon waived it off. That being said, Dubois didn't immediately get upset or even say anything in protest. All he did was glumly walk back to his corner. There was nothing about this fight that made me think Usyk would beat a motivated, in good shape Tyson Fury. Usyk looked fine against a less than grade A opponent. That being said, he does not look like the same dominant force that he was at cruiserweight. He is definitely slower afoot and is less crisp with his combinations. Whether this is due to the added weight, advancing age or a combination of both is irrelevant. The fact is that Oleksandr Usyk is not The Man anymore.
Dubois didn't celebrate the knockdown nor did he complain about the referee decision. Clear as day that he knew it was a low blow.
Masterclass by Usyk he schooled Dubois start to finish and survived a latent low blow to the balls. Theres no controversy.
First four rounds went exactly as expected with Usyk outboxing Dubois at every turn. What I find thrilling is how after the low blow he slowly began stalking a superheavyweight behemoth in the cold rains of Poland, and stopped him with a rapier-like jab. Definitely much more exciting that what I was preparing for (movement clinic.)
Usyk is one of the best offensive fighters in the sport, as soon as he got angry he set about that absoloute man mountain Dubois and beat him to within an inch of his wretched life. Dubois felt his own mortality as Usyk turned the screw, and he needed a way out. Tyson Fury will get the same treatment.
I agree with the vast majority of your post, except for this paragraph, which I find a bit over the top, hyperbolic, dismissive and presumptuous. Look, he had one slightly off performance, which still craps all over most recent Heavyweight performances. He was coming back from a year off, which was preceded by another year off. So of course he could've been rusty. Also the ring was wet, which greatly hampered his movement, he had to be extra careful and cut back of the ballroom moves. Which probably accounts for why he decided to plant his feet, walk down and beat the **** out of a much bigger harder hitting man. Now sure, Dubois might not be grade A, but his power certainly is, so I think he was a little more concerned with defending himself, which may have inhibited the flow of his combinations. I mean, that's a lot of distractions to deal with. The Ukraine war, representing Ukraine, fighting close to home soil. A younger, fresher than usual very heavy handed opponent throwing low blows, rain coming into the ring, eagerness to look impressive, desiring a knockout, which causes even the most disciplined boxers to look reckless. Then how seriously did he take someone like Dubois? Maybe he half assed his camp, didn't put in the prep work needed. Now, also remember how he looked against Chisora and what everyone was saying about him then. And that ended up being a ploy to lure AJ in to fight him, well guess who is ready and willing to fight him now? So no, I don't think it's a FACT that Usyk isn't the man. At least in comparison to Fury, who's looked like absolute dog**** against Wallin, Wilderx2 and Chisora. So, Wilder has consistently looked like ****, AJ has consistently looked like ****, Fury has consistently looked like ****. Now Usyk looked less than thrilling once. If he's not the man.... who is, based on that criteria?
Here we go. People forget that fighters can look like dog**** after inactivity and Usyk looked good. Off his best, certainly but close enough that he's still obviously the #1 dude at heavy. Fury better look great against Ngannou or his stock is going to go down the flusher
That's the important bit I think. I suspect Usyk was not showing everything. Plus I noticed how he kept wiping his left foot - the canvas was certainly a bit wet from the heavy rain. But after he recovered from the low blow, Usyk completely changed - the look on his face, the demeanour, everything had written "hunting mode" all over it. I've certainly never seen Usyk in the HW division as attacking and aggressive as he was in the last four and a half rounds of the fight. I have zero doubt in my mind that should the undisputed fight against Fury ever happen, he will beat Fury pillar to post. Zero doubts about it.
Usyk is special. Soon as the bell goes his movement is just levels above any heavyweight I've ever seen. Or cruiser for that matter. Shame he's 36. That said he's not Invincible if you can get to him but it's getting to him where the problem lies. Dubois doesn't have the nuts, i don't think that's something you can train. He's only 25 so his boxing can improve but I'm not sure what use it is without balls.
Lol, 'waiting to get up'. Then imagine how stupid he and his team must be to wait until nine to get up when there is a very good chance you get counted out. And to wait that long after a jab KD. Just PR lies for the quitter. In the first Wilder fight, when Fury took a RH and LH in round 12, he had a nap, a little bonding moment with Reiss, got his thoughts together, then got up with his much bigger frame and still did it with time to spare.
Since all I basically said in that paragraph is that Usyk is not the fighter he used to be, I am not sure my paragraph deserves your description of "over the top, hyperbolic, dismissive and presumptuous." That being said, what you're basically telling me is that you do think he's the fighter he used to be. It's not like I made him out to be a bum. I still believe Usyk is a top level fighter. I just haven't seem him look like the best fighter in boxing for quite a while. This fight continued that trend.