It was the shot heard around the boxing world when British heavyweight challenger Daniel Dubois dropped Ukrainian champion Oleksandr Usyk in Poland.
The debilitating and debatable body punch that landed directly on the belt line, however, was ruled illegal and a low blow by referee Luis Pabon in the fifth round, and what originally appeared to be a knockout suddenly was no more, and the fight continued.
Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) eventually recovered from the crushing shot and wound up dropping Dubois (19-2, 18 KOs) in the eighth round, officially, and stopped Dubois in the ninth to defend his WBO, WBA, IBF, and IBO titles.
Dubois later quipped on social media: “I respect the man. A great champ who gave me a hard fight and one I will learn from. But the only hit in the balls last night was the one I suffered when I didn’t get my arm raised after I landed this shot.”
Dubois trainer Don Charles took the post-fight banter one step further and said Usyk dodged a knockout loss due to some skullduggery.
“I’m devastated. Devastation is an understatement. The fighter, Daniel Dubois, was robbed of his moment. The team, the family, family friends, the country — robbed last night,” Charles told IFL.
“We knew we had to end the fight in six rounds, which we managed to do in the fifth round. That was a knockout. That wasn’t even a TKO — it was a KO.
“There is only one God. Usyk is always seen making cross signs and praying. I want to know which God [he] is worshiping because you don’t lie in the name of God.
“Usyk, stop cheating and be fair. If you’re a religious man like you claim, do not cheat in the name of God.”
Usyk cleared the air and said he would be fit enough to continue had Pabon ruled it a knockdown.
“For me, 100%, if the referee started to count, I would have definitely jumped up,” Usyk told Boxing King Media. “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.
“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.”
Charles also took issue specifically with Pabon’s performance.
“If you’re not good to do your job, you should get demoted,” said Charles. “If you’re not competent, you should be demoted to a lower level because he’s not good enough to referee at that level.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.