Alexander Krassyuk, the promoter of Ukrainian WBA, WBO, IBO, and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs), shared with talkSPORT an incident from the fight against Daniel Dubois, including the reaction from Oleksandr's circle, particularly his wife, Ekaterina.
"It was a punch below the belt. We have several experts who were closely watching the fight, and we counted 20 below-the-belt punches throughout the match. Anything can happen. Suppose the referee was positioned at a different angle and didn't see the below-the-belt punch, then started the count, what would have happened? Everyone said Usyk wouldn't have gotten up, but how do you know? He's a warrior and would definitely have found the strength to rise. But the reason he stayed in the ring is because the referee deemed it a below-the-belt punch. According to the rules, if a fighter receives a punch below the belt, intentional or unintentional, the referee can give him up to 5 minutes.
Usyk's wife shouted to him after that: 'Knock the crap out of him.' Alexander took only 4 minutes to recover, why not 5? He didn't do it because he saw that his opponent was also resting. He recovered, came back, and knocked the guy out," Krassyuk explained.
The Usyk vs. Dubois fight took place on August 20, 2023. Oleksandr won by knockout in the ninth round, defending his heavyweight titles for the second time. Esteemed referee Viktor Fesechko also confirmed in a recent interview that Dubois' punch was indeed below the belt.