Bob Arum thinks Daniel Dubois gave up in his fight with Oleksandr Usyk after a low blow incident. The legendary promoter shared his thoughts as talks of a rematch between the heavyweights start to heat up.
Dubois and Usyk squared off in Poland last August with three unified world titles on the line. The British fighter sent the champion to the canvas with a controversial low blow in the fifth round. Usyk got back up and dropped Dubois twice - once in the eighth and again in the ninth to end the fight.
The low blow ruling left Dubois' team frustrated. Arum weighed in on the situation during an interview with iFL TV.
"That was an illegal punch, maybe the referee gave him a little too long to recover. I watched it on television, it was a low blow. It seemed to me, Dubois, after throwing that low blow, he quit. Why he did, I don't know."
This isn't the first time Dubois has faced accusations of quitting. In his fight against Joe Joyce, he sustained heavy eye damage from Joyce's jab. The injury was so severe that Dubois' fighting future hung in the balance.
But Dubois has since proven he's got plenty of heart. He's won his last three fights by stoppage, beating Jarrell Miller, Fillip Hrgovic, and Anthony Joshua. He took heavy fire in those bouts but kept going.
Now, as the IBF world champion, Dubois might get another shot at Usyk. There's talk of a rematch for the undisputed heavyweight title, possibly at Wembley Stadium.
But there's a complication. The WBO has ordered Usyk to face Joseph Parker next. This mandatory challenge has thrown a wrench in the plans for a Usyk-Dubois rematch.
