Frank Warren continued his protests against a highly doubtful outcome that would see Oleksandr Usyk forced to give Daniel Dubois a rematch.
The promoter, obviously backing his man, insists Usyk was knocked out for the count from a dubious beltline shot.
Warren went as far as believing there were no guarantees Usyk would have risen if referee Luis Pabon had given a count. That’s despite Usyk insisting he would have stood up, making the whole debate a non-event.
Dubois was well beaten by a better fighter. He will have to come again despite Warren aiming for a no-contest or a rematch. Both are fantasies unless Usyk has nothing else on his agenda regarding mandatories, and there’s extra cash floating about.
However, Filip Hrgovic wants his shot. It’s doubtful the IBF number one will be willing to step aside. That outcome would cost even more money.
Oleksandr Usyk would have risen
In his latest column, Warren was clearly stinging and holding on to whatever he could to plead the case of Dubois.
“We intend to throw our weight behind our man Daniel Dubois,” said Warren. “To seek justice over the incident in the pivotal fifth round when Oleksandr Usyk was bludgeoned to the canvas.
“He would have been out for the count had there been one,” insisted the staunch Londoner.
On Usyk winning the fight by a country mile and speaking out on the fact he wasn’t hurt enough to be kept on the canvas, Warren chose to skate over that statement.
“It really is largely irrelevant whether Daniel was outgunned, outpointed, or out-skilled by the ring-smart two-weight world champion,” stated Warren.
“That was to be expected. We knew that, and outfoxing him wasn’t part of the grand plan.
“The strategy devised involved targeting the one weakness identified in the great Ukrainian. He is a bit suspect when it comes to the body.
“Daniel and his team knew landing on the money was key to achieving an against-all-odds triumph. And that is exactly what he did inside the first thirty seconds or so of the fifth round.
“Usyk himself was clearly fearful of this tactic reaping the rewards. He successfully, you could say, planted an early narrative in the mind of referee Luis Pabon by flinching several times and gesturing south of the border in the opening stages.
“This resulted in an easy assumption when the bullseye was landed that the blow was low.
Pointless Usyk vs Dubois rematch
However, it was clearly outlined in the rules meeting beforehand that such a shot was indeed legitimate, meaning Daniel has been denied his moment of glory.
People now say Usyk would have got up if a count had commenced, but how they can be so sure of this is beyond me. He was doubled up and shaking like a leaf. Such was the ferocity of the strike.”
That last part is what any promoter would be expected to say. However, if Usyk was really hurt and the count began, Warren cannot be sure of the certain knockout he keeps repeating to the media.
The truth is, Dubois had his shot and didn’t get the job done. Apart from the below-naval shot, he was never in the fight. A second fight would be pointless despite Warren’s protests.
“The least Daniel should receive is an ordered rematch. More appropriate would be the fight being declared a no-contest,” he concluded, clutching at straws, before stating his fighter should have done more against the unified champion.
Such as the great man is, though, Usyk might want to put an exclamation point on his victory and take Dubois out even faster this time. That’s the best the contender could hope for from any return.
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of experienced boxing writer Phil Jay.
