"What have you been watching?" - Top British boxer's claims of Daniel Dubois' punch on Oleksandr Usyk being a low blow has fans surprised

Oleksandr Usyk successfully defended his various heavyweight boxing titles against heavy-handed Brit Daniel Dubois this past Saturday. The Ukrainian phenom scored a ninth-round TKO to extend his record to 21-0. However, the fight was not without controversy.

In Round 5, Dubois dropped Usyk with a right hook that appeared to land on the belt line. However, referee Luis Pabon raised eyebrows when he ruled it a low blow. He afforded Oleksandr Usyk the usual five minutes to recover, but when the Ukrainian showed his willingness to resume fighting sooner, the referee insisted that the champion take the full injury time out.

Curiously, he didn't penalize Dubois for the alleged foul and the bout continued for four more rounds, before Oleksandr Usyk scored a TKO. In the wake of the fight, opinions about Daniel Dubois' low blow have been divided on the internet, with fellow British boxer Liam Smith taking to X (formerly Twitter) to assert that it was a low blow.

This drew the attention of fans, many of whom were quick to criticize Smith for claiming that Dubois' punch was a low blow. One fan challenged Smith to prove to them that the blow was in fact low:

"Show me where it’s low?"

Another fan pointed out that Smith's opinion was in the minority:

"You’re in a minority of 1 with this view Liam"

One commenter took it a step further by asking Smith why the referee didn't deduct a point if it was indeed a low blow:

"B***ox, it was on the waistband that was pulled above the naval so all fair - if it was low why didn’t the ref call it and deduct a point?"

Meanwhile, another fan questioned what Smith was watching:

"What have you been watching?? Usyk took a blow that was closer to his spleen than anywhere near being low. Then he cheated."

Check out a collage of fan reactions below:

Fan reactions

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How many championship belts does Oleksandr Usyk have?

As of August 27, 2023, Oleksandr Usyk is the unified heavyweight boxing champion of the world, holding the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles, having won them in his first bout against Anthony Joshua.

Had he managed to secure a bout with Tyson Fury, he'd have had a chance to capture the WBC heavyweight title and become the undisputed champion. Unfortunately, disagreements during the negotiation phase caused the fight to fall through.