Usyk vs Dubois controversy: 1 year later

Just another trick in DDD's, Dirty Daniel Dubois' book. Against Hrgovic he wrote a whole chapter about headbutts. Joshua needs to be careful with this guy.

 

So he threw them all night, but the ref didn't notice, or ignored them? Then he finally called it right?

 

Pretty clear low blow Dubois was getting desperate and being dirty before the low blow as well. I think Usyk has shown in all his fights that he's not weak to body shots like many claim he takes them fine and the fact that one shot effected him this much whereas no other body shot has is pretty telling that it was low.

 

He called it when it actually effected Usyk yes its telling that his only success in the fight was fighting dirty

 

IIRC he warned him for it.

I certainly recall being of the opinion that the ref knew to keep an eye on it, which might help explain how he was able to call it correctly when that sort of thing is often missed.

 

Thanks all, useful and informative!

 

Dubois won the fight/Usyk wouldn't have beat the count and Usyk being allowed to "recover"
took away a lot mentally from Dubois. It appeared they weren't going to let Usyk lose and
nothing he could do would change that.

 

The only controversy is that people inexplicably still think that a low blow has to hit someone in the balls.

 

Because he was worried about being disqualified. Heated moments like these kill momentum and make boxers hesitate because they don't want to screw up again.

The issue is, he didn't really screw up. Different refs might've said that was fully legal. Wearing your trunks high covering the belly button/lower abs is a classic strategy to discourage body shot attempts. I'm not saying that was Usyk's intention or that he milked out the shot, but it is what it is. Had Usyk been the one to drop Dubois, the ref may have called it a legit shot.

I don't think punches to the belly button should ever be called "low" even if the trunks are high. That's not your groin. They should have mandatory instant replays like in the NFL.

 

Well, the punch did not hit Usyk in the balls, even though he certainly 'pretended' it did. We see guys get hit there in every fight, every week, and people don't put on the acting job Usyk did that night. But I'm not going to belabor that point.

Instead, I'm going to focus on Dubois.

Dubois is definitely in the running for the comeback fighter of the year.

I don't think I have ever been "more down" on a fighter and changed my opinion of him entirely like I have with Dubois since the Usyk fight.

Whatever happened that night, it flipped a switch in him. Dubois is not the brightest bulb, clearly, but he sucked it up against Miller and Hrgovic and gave them the beatings of their lives. I've been so impressed with him his last two fights.

If he knocks off Joshua, it will cap the biggest transformation I've seen in a fighter in a very long time.

It won't be easy. Joshua is a big puncher. But I wish Dubois all the best in his quest to turn his career around.

 

Nope, the only controversy is Usyk "acted" like it hit him in the balls.

Guys get punched on the beltline and on the trunks in every fight and fighters rarely even stop fighting. We see it all the time. Usyk wasn't punched in the balls. But he 'pretended' like he was. And he got the "whole" time to recover.

That was the controversy. It is what it is. Can't do anything about it now.

The positive that came out of it was the change it had with Dubois. He's been a much better fighter since then. There was some old saying that a fighter gets like 25% better after he wins the title. Mentally, Dubois seems to have come out of that Usyk fight as if he won it.

It's been great to see the improvement in him.

I just watched that beatdown of Hrgovic again the other day. Really strong performance.

 

I thought the work that Dubois displayed against Usyk up until after the flooring blow in round 5 was impressive, he displayed great boxing ability.

The Compubox stats prove this:

Total punches landed thru 5 rounds

R1 – Usyk 6 | Dubois 5
R2 – Usyk 11 | Dubois 5
R3 – Usyk 11 | Dubois 7
R4 – Usyk 9 | Dubois 7
R5 – Usyk 6 | Dubois 5

Total power punches landed thru 5 rounds (as you know a lot of judges put emphasis on power punches)

R1 – Usyk 1 | Dubois 1
R2 – Usyk 4 | Dubois 4
R3 – Usyk 4 | Dubois 4
R4 – Usyk 4 | Dubois 6
R5 – Usyk 2 | Dubois 4

The issue for Dubois was that he was a split second behind an ultra-fast heavyweight slightly more often than not. In saying that, I think the controversial blow that floored Usyk was a legal blow, which if ruled a legal blow, the fight would have ended in a Dubois victory. Dubois clearly lost his composure and couldn't regain it after the blow was ruled an accidental illegal low blow.

If Dubois employs the same tactics against Joshua (who isn't an ultra-fast heavyweight) as he did against Usyk which is box twitchy at range and maintain his composure, don’t be surprised to see Dubois’ hand raised via decision or stoppage.

Regarding the defeat against Joyce, in hindsight, he probably made the right decision or he could have suffered a career ending injury.

As the great insightful words of Dubois ending the last round against Hrgovic, **** Off

 

The slo mo seems to validate the ref's decision, but no complaints if he had called it differently. It was borderline and the ref has to make the decision on the fly without the benefit of replays, so either call there is good.

I do think Usyk would have gotten up, though. If he doesn't have broken ribs or a busted spleen or liver he doesn't get counted out from a body shot imo. The man is teak tough and as competitive as they come.

 

Definitely a low blow,being uppercutted in the bladder from a big punching lump like Dubois would have anyone writhing on the floor.

Usyk would definitely have gotten up if the ref had started counting as there is no way he would've been counted out in front of 40,000 Ukrainians.

I do think he possibly could've made it look worse than it was to lure in Fury as Luke wanted no part of Usyk until it was perceived he was weak to the body.

 

I agree. If Dubois beats Joshua, we're entering potential All Time Great career and one hell of a resurgence. I thought Dubois didn't have what it takes after the Joyce and Usyk losses, but he's been on fire lately.