Usyk Too Much For Dubois in Poland

Usyk Too Much For Dubois in Poland

Daniel Dubois had moments, but his fleeting success never looked like being enough to topple the quite sublime Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night in Poland.

The end came in round 9, with Dubois failing to beat the count after absorbing one straight punch too many. Dubois took the knee and had the look of a fighter who could have got up, but chose not to.

The British challenger was far from disgraced, and Usyk was given a far tougher challenge than many expected. But you always had the suspicion that Usyk just had too much in his locker and an extra gear or two to move into, if needed, to turn back the challenge of Dubois.

Usyk breezed through the opening rounds, showing far too much versatility in his work for his opponent. Dubois struggled to find the target and was guilty of not throwing enough punches to trouble the unified heavyweight champion of the world.

Dubois closed the gap in the 4th and was finally beginning to get a foothold in the fight. Usyk was dropped in the 5th courtesy of a borderline body shot that was deemed illegal. It looked the right call. But only just. The debate from the Dubois camp will rage on. Post-fight Frank Warren talked, maybe a little optimistically of pushing for a rematch. It is unlikely to come. Cheated and robbed are more than a little wide of the mark.

Usyk was on the floor for nearly five minutes, and he still looked hurt when the fight resumed. Dubois had a chance, but he inexplicably stood off instead of letting his hands go. By the end of the round, Usyk was back in control.

Dubois had success with body shots, but Usyk always seemingly had the last word in the exchanges. The British challenger was having his best round in the 8th until the closing moments when Usyk dropped him. Dubois beat the count, but the end was near.

Usyk finished the fight in the following round when all the fight seemed to drain out of Dubois.

Dubois is only 25 and will come again. But he lacked real belief at times and does seem to go over a little too easily. Which is a major concern going forward. The end was eerily similar to his defeat to Joe Joyce. Is there something missing in Dubois when the going gets tough? If Dubois had gambled in that 5th round, he might have been celebrating a famous win. It was his moment, but it went as quickly as it came. There is a certain fragility about Dubois that might always let him down when he needs something more.

Even in victory, Usyk showed some signs of decline, body shots appear to be his weakness, and maybe Tyson Fury will have seen enough to finally put his WBC bauble on the line against Usyk so we can finally have that long-awaited undisputed heavyweight fight. It might be advisable not to hold your breath on that one. Boxing seemingly always finds a way to disappoint.