Daniel Dubois has formally appealed to the World Boxing Association (WBA) to declare his loss to Ukraine’s world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk last month a No Contest and order a rematch.
The 26-year-old British challenger suffered a ninth-round knockout in the fight in Wroclaw, Poland, on Aug. 26 but said he was “cheated out of victory” by a low blow controversy when Usyk went down in the fifth.
Usyk, who retained his WBA, WBO and IBF belts, was given nearly four minutes to compose himself after being hit on the band of his shorts.
Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren said it had been a legitimate shot by his fighter.
“The WBA, now that it has received a formal appeal from Dubois’ team, will proceed with a review as per the regulations,” the WBA said in a statement.
“Any decision made regarding this situation will be made under WBA rules and communicated in a timely and appropriate manner.”
Warren told the BBC that the appeal had been lodged on Tuesday by his Queensberry Promotions.
Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk said on the night of the fight that he saw “several low blows” from Dubois.
“Everyone wants the rematch after he loses a fight,” he added.
South African boxing fans have been starved of boxing action in recent months but can now look forward to an action-packed bill for Saturday night at Emperors Palace near Kempton Park.
South Africa’s Ricardo Malijika and the slick Kevin Luis Munoz from Argentina, who holds the IBF Latino bantamweight title, will meet for the vacant IBO world junior bantamweight title.
The 25-year-old Malijika (11-2; 9) was an outstanding amateur before making his pro debut on 21 October 2018. He won his first seven fights in style before suffering losses to Sabello Ngebinyana and Sikho Nqothele, both on points.
However, after these setbacks he has come back to win his last three bouts in style, all inside the distance.
Malijika goes in against the more experienced Munoz (16-1; 6), who has won his last four fights in style with the only loss on his record being against Angel Nicolas Aquino, who stopped him five rounds.
Munoz is not known as a puncher and, with the fight possibly going the distance, the odds are that the South African will win on a hard-earned points decision and take the title.
Munoz will be fighting in the bantamweight class after competing at junior featherweight in his most recent fight.
Other potentially exciting fights on the bill are Roarke Knapp against Poland’s Przemyslaw Zysk in a ten-round international junior middleweight fight, and Shervantaigh Koopman, who defends his South African junior middleweight title against Brandon Thysse.
Dubois seeking ‘justice’ after low blow call in loss to Usyk
After the fight, Daniel Dubois said he should be the heavyweight world champion after his body shot that floored Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk was ruled a low blow in their title fight in Poland on Saturday.
Usyk went down gasping for breath after being hit on the band of his shorts in the fifth round. The referee ruled it a low blow and told Usyk to take his time as he remained on the canvas grimacing, with the round eventually continuing.
Usyk then finished the fight in the ninth round to retain his WBA, IBF and WBO belts.
“I should be a world champion right now,” Dubois, 25, told the BBC, calling for a rematch. “It wasn’t justice. It needs to be called out and go further than living this lie. They just cheated out there.”
Dubois said the body shot was something they had worked on in training.
“It wasn’t a low blow. I felt it land perfectly,” he said.
“We’ve been working in the gym for weeks and weeks on end on that shot. We pulled it off and that should have been our moment. That should have been a knockout.”
Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren said after the fight that the referee “got it badly wrong” and his team would take action seeking either a no-contest or rematch.
Usyk’s promoter Alexander Krassyuk said he saw “several low blows” from Dubois during the fight.
“Everyone wants the rematch after he loses a fight,” Krassyuk said in the post-fight press conference.
“Sometimes it happens, you hit someone with an illegal blow, yeah it is normal. But when you keep doing this on purpose, it means you have some sort of dirty plan … We saw several low blows.”
When asked about a rematch, Usyk told reporters: “I’m ready for a rematch tomorrow in a street fight.”
