Former super middleweight champion Carl Froch believes the 25-year-old Daniel Dubois could still be a future force in the heavyweight division.
On Saturday night in Poland, Dubois suffered the second defeat of his pro career when unified champion Oleksandr Usyk knocked him out in the ninth round.
Dubois’ other defeat was a stoppage loss at the hands of Joe Joyce in 2020. In that contest, Dubois was up on the cards when he took a voluntary knee for the full count – after suffering a fractured orbital bone.
“I think he could be the future of the sport, in heavyweight boxing there’s not many around, even Joe Joyce who has already beaten him is late 30s,” Froch told Talk Sport.
“I don’t think a rematch with Joe Joyce would be a wise move for him. I’d like to see him in a couple of steady fights, build his confidence back and he can come again I think, I really do.”
There is also the matter of the controversial fifth round in the Usyk-Dubois showdown.
Dubois connected with a body shot that sent Usyk down in pain for several minutes. The referee, Luis Pabon, ruled it as a low blow.
After several video replays were shown, from different angles, there has been a mountain of debate over whether or not the punch was legal.
In the opinion of Froch, the punch was borderline but strayed low enough to be deemed a low blow.
“I thought it was a low blow, I just say things as I see them and the glove landed half on the waist band, half on the shorts, just above the crown jewels area,” Froch said.
“If you kept throwing punches like that all night you would be pulled up every time… It was borderline, but unfortunately for Dubois, in professional boxing the waistband is an illegal area unless the referee specifies and my interpretation of a low blow is anything below the navel.”