"I saw him bending or something": former Russian world champion assessed the scandalous punch in the Usyk-Dubois fight

Russian heavyweight boxer Alexei Egorov called Daniel Dubois' (19-2, 18 KOs) punch below the belt of Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) in the fifth round of the fight on August 26 "seemingly within the rules." The 2013 European champion noted that he did not watch the fight. He said that he only saw the scandalous moment when the Briton punched the Ukrainian in the groin on replay.

Egorov said this in a commentary to Championship.com. The former World Boxing Association (WBA) gold belt holder called Dubois' punch less forbidden than in the fight between Russian Sergey Kovalev and American Andre Ward in June 2017.

"I didn't watch the fight, it's not interesting to me at all. I saw the cuts after the fight. It seems like the punch was in the belt, well, as it is seen on the replay. He bent or something. Maybe it hurt, but it was a punch in the belt. Everything seems to be within the rules. If you compare it to the Ward-Kovalev fight, there was a knockout. There is nothing more to say. All the questions are for the judges or the boxers," Egorov said.

As a reminder, the Usyk-Dubois fight ended in the 9th round when the Briton missed a heavy shot to the head. In total, Daniel missed 88 punches to the body and head from the Ukrainian.

The British boxer hit our compatriot below the belt in the 5th round. After a while, evidence of Dubois hitting Usyk in the forbidden zone on purpose appeared online. The moment was mocked by Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs), who accused the Ukrainian of simulation.

Dubois' team filed an appeal against the fight result. The media published the text of the protest, in which referee Luis Pabon was accused of depriving the Briton of his championship belt.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, former world champion and now a reputable American trainer Jeff Mayweather criticized the referee of the fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois. Former World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion Joe Joyce (15-1, 14 KOs) admitted that he was almost disgusted when he watched the fight.

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