LONDON, England — It's not often you see a heavyweight hurt to the body, but the general consensus is that it's unified heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk's kryptonite.

After all, the Ukrainian didn't begin his professional career at heavyweight, where body-shot stoppages are hard to come by. He was the undisputed champion at cruiserweight and in the amateurs was dropped by a shot to the left side of the midriff from future undisputed light heavyweight champ Artur Beterbiev.

That said, Usyk is yet to wilt under any sort of sustained pressure to his body across 23 professional fights, seven of which have taken place in boxing's blue ribbon division.

That's unless you count what happened in the fifth round of Usyk's August 2023 fight with Daniel Dubois, who he faces for a second time this weekend with The Ring, WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO titles on the line at Wembley Stadium live on DAZN PPV.

Usyk won the first fight by ninth-round knockout, but four rounds before that he went down from a right uppercut to the body. The Brit thought he'd scored the first knockdown of the Ukrainian's career, but referee Luis Pabon ruled the blow low and he was given just less than four minutes to recover.

"Our win lasted five minutes," Dubois trainer Don Charles said to The Ring. "Daniel was a unified champion for that period. We got robbed."

In April, at a media day in London, Dubois' promoter Frank Warren made a point to reveal printed A4 copies of an image which shows the right hand landing on the upper section of Usyk's beltline. "These punches are not below the belt," Warren said. "And the rule says the navel."

Because the punch was closer to an uppercut than a straight right hand, however, the frame also can be frozen to show that the first point of contact from Dubois came below the belt.

The shot had enough force behind it that it left Usyk writhing around on the floor in agonising pain. What the pictures do is open up a conversation about the implementation of rules and regulations as it pertains to where body shots are and aren't allowed to land.

Other than Agit Kabayel, whose last three fights against Zhilei Zhang, Frank Sanchez and Arslanbek Makhmudov ended in body-shot stoppage victories, you'd be hard pressed to find too many other heavyweights who use that particular mode of attack.

"Body shots make cowards of us all," Sergio Mora said on the DAZN broadcast as Makhmudov was stopped by the hefty German.

The fact is heavyweights are big trees to chop down and, for the most part, going to the body, where there is muscle and fat in abundance, isn't as effective as head-hunting. And when fighters do decide to shoot downstairs, groin guards, which only ride up during fights, are so high they're starting to look like baby flotation devices.

This isn't to say that Usyk's cup looked to be higher than what is now normal. Lennox Lewis wore a high guard and Tyson Fury's could cover five bellybuttons. But Dubois will feel the rewards for targeting the midsection minimal. Usyk is already hard to hit as it is.

The war of words between Dubois and Usyk over Low Blow-gate began at the launch press conference in April, but it was Charles, 64, who was most animated.

"The actions you did that night, you've heard of the Oscars? You should've won an Oscar," Charles said.

"You conned the referee, you conned us and you conned the boxing world.

"You pride yourself as a God-fearing man — 'Thou shalt not lie' — so I question what kind of God do you worship?

"God has summoned you for our son Daniel Dubois to get revenge on you."

Would a man like Usyk, who has shown so much humility throughout his storied career, really deceive an opponent, the thousands who paid for a ticket and those watching at home? Likely not. But perhaps his crafty guile extends beyond boxing skills.

"I believe in Jesus and I deserve an Oscar," he replied to Charles, before revealing a "Boxing lesson" handbook from his pocket, holding it up for all those present to see.

"You need to teach your fighter to fight clean, but I will win this fight with my right hand, with a jab and that will be enough."

Ultimately, the onus is on Dubois to bypass all the talk of controversy, what he believes are unjust refereeing decisions and unfair treatment. "I'm sick of talking about it now," the 27-year-old said at fight week media day.

Focus seems firmly on Usyk, who, at least two more times, after the admission he has a couple of fights left, will attempt to quieten the naysayers about his supposedly weak midsection.

The pair stared down each other in front of the Wembley Way steps on Tuesday, and while Usyk remained steely and steadfast, Dubois bellowed "And the new ..." back at the Ukrainian's team's repeated "Usyk" chants.

Another Usyk win, just as he did in rematches with Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, and people will forget all about that fifth round of the first fight. Dubois hopes to reaffirm that what he did on that night in Wroclaw, Poland, was not illegal and that he and his trainer have not been selling guff to the masses.

For now, however, it's the perfect USP for the rematch, and until we see it again, we should all buy into the drama.