Daniel Dubois has often been followed by accusations of quitting, and now Dave Allen has weighed up his latest performance.
Dubois took a knee and allowed himself to be counted out against Joe Joyce when the pair fought back in 2020, though Dubois did have severe damage to his eye having eaten a series of stiff, heavy jabs.
He was also accused of bowing out early in the first fight with Usyk in August 2023 when he was put down with a solid jab and stayed down in the ninth round.
However, his last three fights have seen him come through plenty of heavy fire to get stoppage wins over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua, so many believed he had found new confidence and grit coming into the undisputed rematch with Usyk this past weekend at Wembley Stadium, though he was outboxed and stopped inside five by the elite Ukrainian.
Speaking on his own YouTube channel, Allen – who himself has admitted to quitting in his fight against Frazer Clarke – acknowledged that Usyk’s knockout punch in the fifth round was a good one, but he didn’t necessarily see it as a fight-ender.
“Dubois got up at the count of 10, and he walked straight past Usyk to the corner, and he was completely fine. I think, and it’s horrific to say, he quit yeah, he did. He quit, he didn’t want to be there. It’s hard with Daniel. I’ve never spoke to him, he’s difficult to work out really. I felt sorry for him on the second watch.
“I think he was hurt, he was knackered, but his head had gone, head had fell off completely. He just wanted to get out of there, win, lose or draw, he wanted the fight over as quick as possible. Mentally fatigued. 99% of that is Usyk, he did land some big shots but he quit again, he quit. That’s the third time now.”
Many in the sport will feel the verdict harsh given the power behind the shot that put the 27-year-old down for a second time.
Dubois vowed after the fight to rest up and come again, while Usyk may be faced with mandatory challenger Joseph Parker if he decides to carry on fighting despite having won everything there is to win.
