Usyk by “9th Round” Knockout

By Tom Donelson (BWAA) Member Boxing Writers of America

Boxing is a sport that differs from most since one punch can end a match despite who was winning.  George Foreman was so far behind Mike Moorer and no chance of winning a decision for his right hand saved the day.  In the tenth round, Mike Moorer was merely nine minutes of defending his championship but right hand by Foreman ended the fight. That is boxing.

In other sports, a bad call can determine a game, or it merely delays the inevitable.  View it this way.  Team one is dominating the game and winning by two touchdowns when a bad call deny Team two a touchdown.  Team two is now down by a touchdown but unless they can get one more touchdown, they will lose the game, bad call, and all.

Danie Dubois was losing his championship bout with Olkesander Usyk and after the controversial knockout, he would be stopped but for a brief moment, Dubois landed a shot to midsection and Usyk went down.  The referee viewed it as a low blow and not a knockout.  This was a close call, and from first look, it looked low but on further examination, it could have been on the beltline as some have suggested but from my vantage point, I will say it was a low blow. If this was counted as knockout, it would be victory for Dubois and the heavyweight championship division would have been shaken up. 

Usyk boxing skills carried him over the first four rounds and Dubois was down on my scorecard 4 rounds to zero before the fifth round came.  After the fifth round, Usyk went to back to boxing, and he took control of the fight.  Usyk ended the bout in the ninth round as he stopped Dubois with a right hand. Dubois had been moment like in the seventh round, he appeared to have Usyk in trouble, but it proved a delusion as the champion landed combinations and piled on the pressure on Dubois. 

At the end of the eighth round, Usyk landed a double jab followed by a cross hook combination that forced Dubois to take a knee at the end of the round.  Usyk landed 10 power shots in the ninth before the fight was stopped.

Usyk was winning the bout on my card but many of the rounds were close and while I had 7 to 1 in favor of Usyk going into the ninth round, most rounds were close, and Dubois put Up a good fight.  Usyk wants to fight Fury to unite all the championship belts, but this version of Usyk would not beat Fury or the Fury that defeated Wilder twice. 

Dubois showed himself a good fighter but not quite in the elite status, but Usyk showed himself vulnerable.  Now what happens now as the one bout everyone wants is Fury versus Usyk and it depends upon whether Fury wants it for, he wants it enough, it will happen. Fury is one of those who never seem to know what he wants.  He has a chance to add to his historical status in boxing history and a victory over Usyk would add to that.  Usyk wants his own status as well as a victory over Fury will establish his own place in boxing history.

Now for a little foot note to Joshua-Helenius fight as Helenius not only lost the fight but he flunked a drug test before the fight.  The ultimate insult, lose a fight after flunking a drug test.

The heavyweight division is now interesting as Wilder appear to ready to fight Joshua in a potentially entertaining fight and if Fury decided to fight Usyk, then we might see a history making fight.

As for Usyk, he came within a split second of losing his undefeated status but a controversial decision saved him. 

One thought on “Usyk by “9th Round” Knockout

  1. Excellent synopsis Tom. I agree that the blow was low, it was close enough to cause controversy, but also pain being just below the ab muscles. Many close rds won by Usyk as you said.

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