Oleksandr Usyk sent Daniel Dubois to the mats in the 9th round on Saturday night at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland with a knockout victory for the Ukranian to retain his 3 Heavyweight titles. He retained the unified WBO, IBF and WBA heavyweight belts, the titles that Usyk had won from, and defended against, Anthony Joshua. Usyk had controlled the early rounds, mixing up his quick southpaw jabs with good variety to catch Dubois and take the opening proceedings. But the fight ignited in the fifth round when Dubois sent a right into Usyk’s beltline, which sent Usyk to the ground. Although the referee ruled an accidental low blow. He was given the full five minutes to take to recover but looked in clear discomfort. Dubois might have been denied a knockdown but on resumption he continued that onslaught, ferociously attacking Usyk’s body. The Ukrainian’s resolve was sorely tested and Dubois’ aggression continued with the Briton unloading big shots. Usyk was hurt. But eventually he recovered and stung Dubois with a sweeping left hook. Rapid-fire punches caught Dubois high on the head, dropping him at the end of the eighth round. In the ninth, Usyk launched his lead right over the top and the Briton sank to a knee where the referee counted him out. Despite Dubois’ defeat, his class is not in doubt as he showed much of it against an elite boxer in Usyk. He came in as the mandatory challenger for the WBA title but, although his punch power has always been clear, he had never beaten an elite-class opponent, having lost to Joe Joyce when his towering London rival stopped him in 2020