DANIEL DUBOIS’ promoter has formally appealed against his loss to Oleksandr Usyk following a controversial “low blow” call.
Dubois was beaten in nine rounds by the masterful Ukrainian world champion in Poland.
Oleksandr Usyk was floored by Daniel Dubois in round fiveRichard Pelham / The Sun
But in the fifth round he had Usyk on the floor following a shot to the midsection – which referee Luis Pabon adjudged to be low.
Usyk took full advantage of the five minutes to recover but opinions were divided on whether it was low or not.
Heartbroken Dubois and his fuming promoter Frank Warren vowed to fight the result and now they have appealed to the WBA.
Warren called for the bout to be declared a “no contest” with the loss being chalked off and a rematch being requested.
The Hall of Fame promoter argued: “Daniel Dubois was unjustly denied of his rightful status as unified world heavyweight champion.”
It also makes the claim that Usyk would not have got up from Dubois’ body shot had it not been ruled a low blow.
The appeal read: “Mr Dubois landed a body blow that dropped and severely hurt Mr Usyk and, seemingly, crowned Mr Dubois the heavyweight champion.”
They maintain the “blow was incorrectly adjudicated as low by Mr Pabon.”
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Dubois was floored twice before failing to beat the ref’s count and faced accusations of quitting.
But the devastated challenger spoke out in the ring after the loss to insist he was robbed of a world title.
Dubois said: “I think that landed and I’ve been cheated out of victory tonight. What else can I say?”
Usyk eventually beat Dubois in round tenRichard Pelham / The Sun