Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois

Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois was a heavyweight professional boxing match between WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and WBA (Regular) heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois.

Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois

Date	26 August 2023
Venue	Stadion Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
Title(s) on the line	WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, TBRB, and The Ring unified heavyweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Oleksandr Usyk Daniel Dubois Nickname The Cat Dynamite Hometown Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine Greenwich, London, UK Pre-fight record 20–0 (13 KO) 19–1 (18 KO) Age 36 years, 7 months 25 years, 11 months Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) Weight 220.9 lb (100 kg) 233.2 lb (106 kg) Style Southpaw Orthodox Recognition WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, TBRB, The Ring and IBO Heavyweight Champion The Ring No. 3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter 2-division world champion WBA (Regular) Heavyweight Champion WBO No. 8 Ranked Heavyweight
Result
Usyk wins via 9th-round KO

The bout took place on 26 August 2023 at Stadion Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland. Usyk defeated Dubois via knockout in the 9th round.^[1]

Background

Dubois became the mandatory challenger to Usyk after he defeated Trevor Bryan On 11 June 2022, by knockout in the fourth round to become the WBA (Regular) heavyweight champion. This was then followed up with a victory over and defence of his WBA (Regular) heavyweight title against Kevin Lerena on 3 December 2022. This set up a mandatory challenge to Usyk for the WBA (Super) heavyweight championship.^[2][3][4][5]

On 3 April 2023, the WBA officially ordered the world title consolidation between unified heavyweight champion Usyk and WBA 'regular' titleholder Daniel Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs). Both parties where given 30-day negotiation period. Earlier reports suggested the fight could take place in London or Manchester in England. Although no date or location had been confirmed, Alex Krassyuk stated the fight could take in a stadium in Poland.^[6][7][8]

In May 2023, purse bids were held. Usyk's career-long promoter Krassyuk gained control of the fight with a massive bid of $8,057,000, which was more than the $5,620,050 submitted by Queensberry Promotions. A fight date in August was being eyed. As per the purse splits, Usyk was to take home $6,042,750 (75% of the winning bid) and Dubois was to take a career-high $2,014,250 payday.^[9] The fight took place on 26 August at the Stadion Wroclaw in Wrocław, Poland for Usyk's WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring titles. The date aligned with Ukraine's Independence Day. An attendance of around 24,000 was expected.^[10][11]

The fight

Usyk retained his titles via ninth-round stoppage, however there was controversy surrounding the events of the fifth round, when Usyk dropped to the canvas following a punch from Dubois that was ruled a low blow by referee Luis Pabon. Accordingly, Usyk was given a maximum of five minutes to recover, but despite declaring he was ready to continue, Pabon urged Usyk to take more time out. Usyk ultimately used three minutes and forty-five seconds before the fight resumed. Usyk forced Dubois to take a knee in the eighth round and again in the ninth round, where he was counted out.^[12][13] According to CompuBox stats, Usyk had outlanded Dubois in every round of the fight, landing 88 of 359 punches thrown (24.5%) to Dubois' 47 of 290 (16.2%). Dubois failed to land double digits in any round of the fight.^[14]

Debate subsequently followed regarding the fifth round low blow as many observers felt it should actually have been ruled a legal punch and thus potentially resulted in a KO victory for Dubois. In his post-fight interview, Dubois opined: "I didn’t think that was a low blow. I thought that landed, and I’ve been cheated out of victory tonight.” However, Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk argued "The belly button is the line. Anything low of that is a low blow." This argument was echoed by others including boxers Tony Bellew and Liam Smith.^[15][16][17]

Aftermath

Usyk would agree to an undisputed showdown with Tyson Fury set for 17 February 2024 (later pushed back to 18 May). Usyk would go on to beat Fury and become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the current four-belt era (WBA-WBC-IBF-WBO) since Lennox Lewis in 1999.

Fight card

Weight Class		vs.		Method	Round	Time	Notes
Main Card
Heavyweight	Oleksandr Usyk (c)	def.	Daniel Dubois	KO	9 (12)	1:48	Note 1
Super Welterweight	Aadam Hamed	def.	Vojtech Hrdý	TKO	1 (4)	2:09	Note 2
Lightweight	Denys Berinchyk (c)	def.	Anthony Yigit	UD	12		Note 3
Heavyweight	Hamzah Sheeraz (c)	def.	Dmytro Mytrofanov	TKO	2 (12)	0:35	Note 4
Middleweight	Anauel Ngamissengue	def.	Fiodor Czerkaszyn	MD	8
Light heavyweight	Daniel Lapin	def.	Aro Schwartz	TKO	6 (10)	2:25	Note 5
Preliminary Card
Featherweight	Oleksandr Solomennikov	def.	Piotr Gudel	UD	1 (6)	2:41
Super Lightweight	Ziyad Al Maayouf	def.	János Pénzes	UD	6
Super Lightweight	Bryce Mills	def.	Damian Tymosz	UD	6
Welterweight	Vasyl Chebotar	def.	Joel Julio	TKO	6 (8)	1:15
Heavyweight	Lazizbek Mullojonov	def.	Nursultan Amanzholov	TKO	1 (6)	2:13
Middleweight	Rafal Wolczecki	def.	Roberto Arriaza	TKO	3 (8)	2:59
Lightweight	Yaroslav Khartsyz	def.	Konrad Tchaikovsky	UD	4

^Note 1 For WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, TBRB, and The Ring World Heavyweight championships
^Note 2 Hamed's professional debut
^Note 3 For WBO International lightweight championship
^Note 4 For WBC Silver Middleweight championship
^Note 5 For vacant IBO Continental Light Heavyweight championship

Sources:^{[18][19][20][21]}

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
Worldwide (unsold markets)	Triller TV
Australia	Main Event
Canada	TSN+
Poland	Megogo
Ukraine
United Kingdom	TNT Sports Box Office
United States	ESPN+