Oleksandr Usyk retained the unified WBO, IBF and WBA heavyweight belts on Saturday night, by knocking out Daniel Dubois at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland.
Usyk had to weather immense pressure to win, and pick himself up from the canvas after sustaining a shot the referee deemed was a low blow.
The Ukrainian champion had controlled the early going, mixing up his flashing southpaw jabs with good variety to catch Dubois and take the opening rounds.
But the fight ignited in the fifth round when Dubois cleaved a right into Usyk’s beltline.
Usyk went down from a shot that the referee ruled an accidental low blow. He was given the full five minutes to recover but looked in clear discomfort.
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.
