Daniel Dubois not only lost his title but also his shot at the undisputed heavyweight crown. Most accepted that he couldn’t match Oleksandr Usyk‘s technical brilliance. But few expected the Ukrainian to outmuscle him as well. Usyk dropped Dubois early before winding up a sharp left hook that sealed the outcome. Beyond the shattered title hopes, that punch opened up a can of worms for the beleaguered Londoner. Debate has raged over the manner of the defeat. After hitting the canvas and staring blankly ahead, Dubois failed to beat the referee’s count.

To many, it looked like he had given up. That final flicker of resistance seemed to drain from him. Now, those criticisms seem to have received a shot in the arm. In a recent interview with Talk Sport, boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. weighed in. While he acknowledged the challenge of facing a fighter like Usyk, he made it clear: Daniel Dubois fell short of expectations.

The question couldn’t have been more direct. “Roy, what were your thoughts on Daniel Dubois and the way the fight ended? Do you believe that he could have gotten up? Do you think he quit?” One of the Talk Sport hosts asked. The question had Roy Jones Jr. traveling back in time.

A punishing lead jab from Usyk forced Dubois to take a knee when they fought back in 2023. “I thought he could have gotten up the first time with the jab,” Roy Jones Jr. said. Being a smart fighter, Usyk wouldn’t expect someone who quit from a jab to show more toughness.

“So you think Usyk gonna let him get up off of an overhand left? You think we really believe he’s going to get up and try an overhand left? No, we don’t,” he stated. So, the question of whether Dubois could or should have risen after the knockdown becomes, as Roy put it, more academic than practical. “Probably, but he’s just, he’s shown that’s not the person here, you know?”

The debate has triggered a wave of mixed reactions. Not everyone agrees that Daniel Dubois ‘quit.’ But few disagree: the ending wasn’t easy to watch.

It’s not that simple: rethinking the Daniel Dubois exit

To promoter Eddie Hearn, the accusation borders on the absurd. In his view, Dubois may have surrendered in the first fight with Usyk. Specifically in the ninth round, when a jab sent him to his knees. Still, that doesn’t mean he repeated the same pattern in the rematch. “He quit in the first fight, right? Give him the benefit of the doubt in the second fight,” Hearn argued.

In the first bout with Usyk, it was a stiff jab that dropped Dubois. This time, he absorbed the full force of a punishing left hook. Even so, the underlying question remains: Could he have gotten up? To bolster his point, Hearn brought up a moment from just last September, when Dubois knocked out his friend and Matchroom fighter, Anthony Joshua.

Despite suffering four knockdowns, AJ kept getting up. Even after absorbing a monstrous right hand that ultimately ended the fight, he rose, visibly shaken, but still trying to fight. In contrast, when the referee counted Daniel Dubois out, he simply stood up and walked back to his corner. Composed, but passive. No visible struggle, no desperate attempt to beat the count.

And that’s the crux of it: fans expect fighters to get up and show they’re willing to continue, especially on the biggest stage.

Perhaps this entire debate wouldn’t exist if Dubois had collapsed flat on the canvas, clearly incapacitated or visibly fighting to rise. Had there been signs of a genuine physical struggle, the conversation might have taken a different tone.

But that didn’t happen.

What are your thoughts on how Daniel Dubois ended his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk? Did he make a decision? Or did the fight take it out of him?