Daniel Dubois’ promoter Frank Warren appeals Oleksandr Usyk result and pushes for rematch

Usyk stopped Dubois in August to retain the unified heavyweight titles, but only after a moment of major controversy in Round 5

Daniel Dubois’s promoter Frank Warren has appealed the result of the British heavyweight’s fight with Oleksandr Usyk, while pushing for a rematch.

Dubois was stopped by Usyk in Round 9 on Saturday 26 August, after the Briton floored the unified heavyweight champion in Round 5, only for his body-shot attempt to be ruled a low blow.

Usyk was therefore granted five minutes to recover, and the Ukrainian used approximately three of those minutes before the bout in Wroclaw, Poland, resumed.

Usyk, 36, then dropped Dubois, 25, in the eighth round and did the same in the ninth, with the Briton failing to beat the referee's count. With the result, Usyk remained unbeaten and retained the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles.

Warren has now lobbied for a No Contest and a rematch, he told the BBC, while boxing journalist Dan Rafael took to X to post a screenshot of what appears to be the appeal. The appeal to the WBA (World Boxing Association) centres on the claim that Usyk would not have beaten a hypothetical referee’s count if Dubois’s punch in Round 5 had not been ruled a low blow.

“Owing to what this appeal argues were errors in judgement made by the bout’s referee, Luis Pabon, Daniel Dubois was unjustly denied of his rightful status as unified world heavyweight champion,” read the apparent appeal shared by Rafael.

It continued: “Approximately 20 seconds into the fifth round, Mr Dubois landed a body blow that dropped and severely hurt Mr Usyk and, seemingly, crowned Mr Dubois the heavyweight champion. However, the blow was incorrectly adjudicated as low by Mr Pabon.

“Instead of being knocked out, Mr Usyk was given a substantial recovery period, which allowed him to regain his strength and continue the bout without impediment.”

Usyk won the unified heavyweight titles with a decision victory over Anthony Joshua in 2021, before repeating the trick against “AJ” in 2022 to retain the belts.

The southpaw has been linked with a fight against Tyson Fury for the best part of a year, though the WBC champion is due to fight ex-UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in October.

Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos.