Lennox Lewis has given his view on the low blow inflicted on Oleksandr Usyk by Daniel Dubois back in 2023.
This fight came in August 2023 out in Poland and was Dubois’s first world title shot. He did well in the early rounds and even managed to land a body shot in the fifth that had Usyk down on the canvas.
However, the referee ruled it was a low blow, despite some onlookers disagreeing. He gave Usyk all the time he needed to recover and the Ukrainian took a full five minutes.
He then rallied, broke down ‘DDD’ and stopped him in the later rounds, with many thinking that Dubois’s heart was broken having been so close to a historic victory just a few rounds earlier.
Usyk then went into back-to-back fights with Tyson Fury, winning the first to become undisputed, then defending the three remaining belts after relinquishing the IBF to honour the second fight.
In the meantime, Dubois went on a career-best run with knockout wins over Jarrell Miller, Fillip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua to become IBF ruler.
Speaking on Froch on Fighting, Lewis was asked what he made of the controversial shot and sided with Dubois.
“No, that wasn’t a low blow. Ask any boxer, it was on the belt line. Did you think he played into that? We all do it. We know the game. I would too.”
Usyk will be hoping to put this talk to bed once and for all by securing a rematch with Dubois and winning without any controversy, though first ‘DDD’ must defend his IBF strap against Joseph Parker on February 22 in Saudi Arabia.
