The fight was even on my card after four rounds with Usyk winning the first two with ease and DuBois narrowly edging Usyk for the third and fourth before the controversy began.
Early in round five, DuBois nailed Usyk with a punch that ESPN's Joe Tessitore initially called a body punch knockdown with Usyk on the mat in pain.
Referee Luis Pabon ruled the punch low and gave Usyk multiple minutes to recover.
Usyk took command after the delay and won every round from there, knocking DuBois down late in round eight and completing the task after a knockdown in round nine.
I had Usyk up after eight at 78-73 and DuBois wasn't going to get back into the fight at the time of the stoppage anyway but after the fight, both DuBois and his promoter Frank Warren claimed that they had been robbed of victory by the decision of Luis Pabon.
Team DuBois will be appealing to the WBA for an immediate rematch and should they get it, Usyk may have to decide who to make happy, the WBA or the IBF, who has the next mandatory contender slot with their top challenger Filip Hrgovic.
Of course, should a Tyson Fury fight become available, Usyk could pass on either fight, neither of which would bring a large payday.
Hrgovic has stated that he will not take step-aside money, so Usyk may have to face him next or risk the IBF title.
As for the low blow vs. body shot controversy, I slowed it down to Zapruder level and it appears a bit low and only the thumb on the glove of DuBois appears to be definitively above the waistline.
It was a close call in live action but it was the right one.
ESPN moved to its own card with two heavyweight attractions from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The main event saw undefeated Jared Anderson return from his first time going the distance in a decision win over Charles Martin with a fifth-round knockout of Andriy Rudenko.
Anderson dominated the fight throughout and when he battered Rudenko in the fifth, the referee justly ended the fight with the helpless Rudenko beaten along the ropes.
Anderson did everything to the durable Rudenko but drop him and Anderson looked strong after he was wobbled by Martin in his last fight, so his return was successful in rebuilding his confidence a bit.
It'll be interesting to see how Top Rank matches Anderson in his next fight or two.
Will they give him more Rudenko-types to help re-establish him as a destroyer?
Or do they return him to the Charles Martin gatekeeper level as a test of his progression?
Zhan Kossobutskiy was supposed to be the opponent for Anderson in July but due to visa problems, he couldn't enter the country and forced the late replacement of Charles Martin to save the card.
With his visa issues settled, Kossobutskiy was slotted into the co-feature against once-beaten Efe Ajagba, who had disappointed since his only loss to Frank Sanchez.
So with his reported power and amateur background, Kossobutskiy was thought by some to be a trap fight for Ajagba and a possible victor.
Of course, it didn't turn out that way as Ajagba hurt Kossobutskiy in the second and the Russian never recovered as he began to hit Ajagba low several times, most of those intentionally (although Ajagba hit Kossobutskiy low as well, so he wasn't innocent) in the third round, losing two points as a result.
Kossobutskiy did the same in the fourth and was disqualified for his efforts (or non-effort) and likely has blown any chance of fighting on American shows for quite a while.
For Ajagba, it's another win but also another win that doesn't move him up the ladder very much.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Top Rank fish or cut bait with Ajagba and try to feed him to Jared Anderson sometime in the next year.
Boxing Challenge
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