“We Don’t Like When People Cheat”: Daniel Dubois’ Team Fires Shot at Oleksandr Usyk After Fifth-Round Fiasco

Nobody can deny that losing is a bitter pill to swallow. However, for most athletes, it’s a fact of life they eventually learn to accept. It’s when the experience escapes the boundaries of fair play that it becomes unbearable. All it takes is an avenue, a channel, to vent out the pent-up anger and frustrations. That’s what millions of fans and followers witnessed when Queensbury boss Frank Warren and trainer Don Charles spoke their hearts out at the post-fight press conference of the Oleksandr Usyk–Daniel Dubois fight, marred by the rather unfortunate low-blow call.

Daniel Dubois had come prepared to entrap ‘The Cat.’ The WBA (Regular) Heavyweight champion was in Poland to grab Oleksandr Usyk’s unified belts. The young, 25-year-old Londoner, who had faced only one career loss thus far, came with great expectations to stop the Ukrainian juggernaut. But still, the latter, ten years the Briton’s senior, remained the oddsmaker’s favorite to win.

Daniel Dubois’ trainer: Dishonesty remains intolerable

They weren’t entirely off the mark, as Usyk soon established his dominance. ‘The Cat’ kept him away with his brilliant jabs and constant movements. But Dubois never appeared flustered, to his credit. The first highlight of the match, and now perhaps its most recognizable one, came in the fifth round. A steely right hand from Daniel Dubois connected with Oleksandr Usyk’s body. However, as it turned out, it may or may not have landed either on or just below the belt. The verdict is still out in the open.

But what followed afterward might have rubbed more salt in the wound. The referee, Luis Pabon, awarded Usyk four minutes’ rest for him to recover and then declared Dubois’ punch a low blow without penalizing him with a point deduction. Once the match resumed, Dubois tried to bring it under his control. But it was too late, too little. Usyk dropped him once in the eighth round and repeated the feat in the ninth, causing the referee to intervene and stop the fight in the Ukrainian champion’s favor.

Daniel Dubois, obviously dejected, disagreed that it was a low blow and felt that he was cheated out of the fight during the post-fight interview with Michelle Joy Phelps.

Sticking to the version, his promoter, Frank Warren, and trainer, Don Charles, lashed out in front of the media representatives. The latter called it an unfair play, saying, “Everything he said, he [spoke] perfect English. He’s just saying you’re just talking a lot of gibberish. I’ll be honest with you, because what can he say? …okay, this is boxing. This is boxing, Daniel. Well, yeah, we know it’s boxing, mate, but we [we] don’t like when people cheat. Yeah, that is [that is] cheating. There [are] no two words about it. ”

What’s next?

The trainer then compared the instance with how a few soccer players intentionally dive to call out for a penalty or get a particular player from the opposing side out of the field. Then he described how the affair affected him and Dubois and how it would play out in the young boxer’s future. Per available reports, Frank Warren has shared that they would appeal the match’s outcome.

The pain was visible in the British camp. It remains to be seen whether they genuinely go after the appeals process and then what the final verdict of the governing body will be. As far as Usyk is concerned, he might have to contend with another challenger in Filipo Hrgovic before going after Tyson Fury for the undisputed title in the Heavyweight division.

Read More: Ahead of Daniel Dubois Fight, Oleksandr Usyk Sends Stern Message to Tyson Fury

What is your take on Don Charles’ statement? Do you agree with him? Please share your thoughts and views with us in the comments below.

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