LONDON — Daniel Dubois’ trainer Don Charles has labelled Oleksandr Usyk an actor and said he should have won an Oscar for his reaction to a low blow from the Brit in their first fight.
The pair will face off in an undisputed heavyweight world championship clash at Wembley Stadium in London on July 19. Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) beat Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) in 2023 via knockout in Round 9. However, the win was controversial after Dubois was deemed to have hit Usyk with a low blow in Round 5 which floored the Ukranian.
The legality of the punch divided the opinion of fans and experts. While Usyk appeared to make light of the situation by bringing photographs of the punch from their first fight, it only appeared to anger Charles. Dubois’ team maintain the punch was legal and tempers flared at Tuesday’s news conference when it was brought up again.
“I have a lot of respect for you as a fighter. But it disappoints me that you could stoop as low to bring those types of photographs,” Charles said.
“The acting you did that night — you should be given an Oscar for the performance. You conned the referee, you conned us, you conned the boxing world.
“You pride yourself as a God fearing man. Thou shall not lie in the name of God.
“You’re very mentally strong but you’ve met somebody who is stronger than you.”
Dubois himself refused to be drawn on the controversy, but predicted the outcome of their rematch instead. “It’s in the past, It’s happened,” he said. I get the chance to put that wrong right. A lot of s–t being talked about right now but I can’t wait to put him to sleep in the night.
“I’m on fire now. It’s going to be a blood bath I’ll put that controversy to rest.”
Usyk’s manager Egis Klimas took offence to any suggestion that his fighter cheated by milking the shot and taking time to recover.
“Don’t call my man a cheater because he didn’t cheat. I’m sure you’ve been hit in the balls before and know that feeling” he said.
“He was hit in the balls, he went down, the referee didn’t count it.
“If you want to say something, you better tell the referee, not my man.”
After the fight, Usyk went on to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era with his split decision win over Tyson Fury in May 2024, which he backed up with a unanimous decision in December.
However, Dubois is also unbeaten since his first fight against his rival and his career reached its high point with a savage knockout against Anthony Joshua in September.
Source: espn.com