Carl Froch has changed his mind about Daniel Dubois' performance in the Oleksandr Usyk rematch. The former super-middleweight world champion now believes Dubois quit during the fight.
Froch initially said Dubois didn't give up. But after watching the fight again, he noticed something different. He saw that Dubois was awake and aware while the referee counted.
On his YouTube channel, Froch on Fighting, Froch explained his new view:
"Yes, of course he quit. When he went down the second time, and he got caught with a good shot by the way, on reflection, looking at it back the second time, the first time I saw it I thought he was done, rendered unconscious, out and gone."
Froch pointed out that Dubois was looking at his corner and the referee during the count. He criticized Dubois for not trying harder to continue:
"You've got to get up and convince the referee you want to carry on fighting. This is an undisputed heavyweight title fight. He may never get this chance again. Why the f**k would you sit it out. In my world you don't sit it out."
This isn't the first time Dubois has faced such criticism. In 2020, he was counted out against Joe Joyce due to eye socket damage. He rebuilt his career with some knockout wins before facing Usyk for the first time in August 2023.
In that first Usyk fight, Dubois stayed down in the 10th round after a jab. Many people thought Usyk had broken Dubois' spirit. Usyk had rallied well after being knocked down earlier in the fight, though that knockdown was ruled a low blow.
The rematch in 2024 ended with Dubois getting knocked out in the 5th round. Now, Dubois will need to rebuild his career once again if he wants to return to world level.
Dubois has shown he can come back from losses before. He'll need to tap into that grit and determination to overcome this latest setback and silence his critics.
