Oleksandr Usyk knocks out Daniel Dubois in ninth round to retain titles

Champion wins despite being felled by low blow in round fiveUsyk down in distress for prolonged period before rallying

Oleksandr Usyk retained his IBF, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles when he stopped Daniel Dubois in the ninth round of an increasingly dramatic fight which changed course after the champion had been hurt by a borderline punch which was ruled a low blow. After dominating the fight with his superior skill Usyk was suddenly in real distress as he slumped to the canvas in round five after Dubois landed a heavy shot on the beltline.

Shaking his head and in obvious pain, the Ukrainian was allowed almost four minutes to recover. The referee might have considered it an illegal blow but he did not deduct a point from the 25-year-old British challenger, who then had his best spell of the fight. But Usyk dropped him twice to seal his victory in the early hours of Sunday morning in the Polish city of Wroclaw.

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