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Don Charles Insists Oleksandr Usyk 'Conned The Referee', Promises Revenge In Daniel Dubois Rematch
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Mosope Ominiyi
Mosope Ominiyi
RingMagazine.com
Don Charles Insists Oleksandr Usyk 'Conned The Referee', Promises Revenge In Daniel Dubois Rematch
WEMBLEY, NORTH LONDON -- One month shy of two years since their first meeting, Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) and Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) will do battle again in a different setting - home turf for the British champion - the scene of his career-best stoppage win over Anthony Joshua last September.

Double the size of Wroclaw Stadium, Wembley will play home to Dubois' attempt at redemption when facing the unbeaten Ukrainian unified king, who relinquished the IBF strap last summer to facilitate Dubois-Joshua for a recently-vacant title.

Dubois' Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren is looking forward to another history-making event, declaring it an opportunity for Daniel to "etch his name in sporting history," by becoming the first Briton to hold all four world heavyweight titles.

During Tuesday's press conference, the Queensberry chief said: "Daniel's on a magnificent run since the controversial loss and done everything in style, beat world-class fighters, showed what he's all about and come through some torrid moments to show he's dangerous at any moment. The best fighting the best, number one vs. number two, they'll put it all on the line and it'll be something magnificent."

A day earlier, he told written media at a London roundtable that Dubois needed 'toughening up' and that humbling experience 740 miles from home forced him into action, producing three impressive stoppage wins in a nine-month span.

Later on during the presser, Dubois' head coach Don Charles gave Usyk his plaudits but maintained a defiant stance that Usyk's subtle tactics - gesticulating and complaining every time a body shot landed low - from minute one pressured referee Luis Pabon into a mistake, en route to a ninth-round stoppage victory.

"Me as a boxing coach, I have a lot of respect for you. It's remarkable but disappoints me that you can stoop so low, print the actual shot that had you trembling, the acting you did that night... you deserve an Oscar or Emmy award for the performance. You conned the referee, us, the boxing world, I've always maintained that and will, you pride yourself as a God-fearing man, thou shall not lie."

Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk said they went back and rewatched the fight, specifically counting 20 low punches Dubois had landed, questioning whether it was a purposeful tactic to "play dirty" in enemy territory, unsettling the unified champion.

Team Usyk brought a selction of pictures with them, ranging from fight night images showing Dubois punching low to some annotated diagrams of where across the body it is acceptable and conversely illegal, to connect.

Dubois, unimpressed, reluctantly signed some - much like Tyson Fury before his December 22 rematch - while Don Charles' son and former pro boxer Daniel Fox made his displeasure about the gesture known among the assembled media.

Usyk was given ample recovery time after suffering a fifth-round body punch deemed low by Puerto Rican referee Luis Pabon, though Dubois was not deducted a point and the post-fight fallout surrounded that round's contentious events.

"God has summoned you for Daniel to get revenge," Charles continued.

Usyk's manager Egis Klimas warned Charles against declaring his fighter a cheat, saying any accusations or questions should be levelled at the 32-year pro referee.

When asked by Queensberry presenter Dev Sahni whether Usyk would've made the count had it been deemed legal, Charles was unequivocal with his stance.

"I was two metres away from the incident, not because he's my fighter but there's no way in the world... his central nervous system was shut down, that's why he was trembling. At no point did he grab the area supposedly hit, you reach for your groin but he was by his stomach area.

"He conditioned the referee prior to that punch, pointing there all the time, he's only a human being and panicked. When you get to a certain level, you get favouritism, he had already been conditioned. Go examine it with a panel, in-fact, you don't need that because on July 19, we'll dissect and investigate you, you'll get found out."

Dubois, grew bored of the back-and-forth between teams by this stage. Whatever happened previously, was in the past and couldn't be changed. In two-and-a-half months time, the 27-year-old has an opportunity to right the wrong, he stressed.

"He'll be doing a funny dance when I hit him, we don't care about no body shots, he's gonna get knocked out."

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