LENNOX LEWIS says he would have beaten the count that settled Daniel Dubois’ KO loss to Oleksandr Usyk – but refuses to put the boot into his former protege.
The fifth-round stoppage the undisputed Ukraine legend inflicted on the 27-year-old has split British boxing.
Lennox Lewis reckons he would have beaten the count that settled Daniel Dubois’ KO loss to Oleksandr UsykGetty
PADaniel Dubois was knocked out in the fifth round by Oleksandr Usyk[/caption]
GettyUsyk has become a dominant force in heavyweight boxing[/caption]
Warhorse Derek Chisora, 41, told our Split Decision YouTube show that Dubois quit, but Tyson Fury passionately defended him – and both men offered to help train and rebuild him.
Lewis, 59 – the last heavyweight undisputed ruler dating back to 1999 – has been backing Dubois for a decade, since he turned pro, and has called for calm in the criticism of him.
But the man-mountain-mastermind – who manhandled monsters such as Vitali Klitschko, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield after recovering from two knockout defeats – says he would not have accepted the same fate as Dubois.
He told SunSport: “I can only say that, if I was in that situation, I would have beaten the count.
“But we don’t know what was going on, mentally and physically, with him.
“When you ask ‘could he have got up?’ We don’t know what was going through his mind.
“Usually when you are on a knee and you are looking up like that, you have a decision to get up and go on, or not.
“It’s a big decision and you have to make it within the count. And I don’t think he made that decision within the count.”
EPADubois was unable to continue after being knocked to the canvas[/caption]
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There is an ongoing and deserved inquest into how Dubois’ dad Stan managed his pre-fight preparation – with videos emerging of the fighter at a party hours before the bout.
The IBF’s defending champion arrived late, after a long car journey, and then had his entrance held up when his father threatened to pull him from the fight if his bundle of ticketless guests were not allowed in.
Almost everyone in boxing has hammered the slapstick shambles but Lewis can’t throw stones as he would be sound asleep about 30 minutes before the biggest fights of his life.
He explained: “Everybody does their thing a bit differently.
“Usually people look at what the previous champions did before them, and copy that.
“For me, I used to tell my team to throw everybody out of the dressing room and not let anybody bother me.
“Officials and other people would be coming to see me or to get my autograph and they would be told ‘no, not until he wakes up’.
“Once I woke up, it was like a new day, I was ready for that day, and I was ready to fight.
“People didn’t realise that when I was able to sleep like that, it meant I was as relaxed as I could possibly be.
XFootage emerged of Daniel Dubois having a party hours before the fight[/caption]
XPeople were packed in to Dubois’ home[/caption]
“There’s no point being in a dressing room ages before the fight, pacing up and down and breathing hard, that’s not me. I sleep, I relax and I get in the ring.
“I would wake up just in time to wrap my hands and then my warm-up was fast.”
And how does Lewis rate the man who has laid waste to the UK’s biggest and best men, from Chisora to Anthony Joshua, to Tyson Fury and now Dubois?
“He’s a remarkable, big-time, great boxer,” Lewis purred.
“He does everything right, he’s smart and he moves and punches well.
“But he works you out BEFORE the fight.
“All the British guys have had two cracks at him and still can’t do it.
“I have watched from the outside and thought ‘I know how I would prepare to beat Oleksandr Usyk.
“Oleksandr Usyk is a great mover, so you have to be a great mover as well, you have to be good on your feet.
“But these guys can’t figure it out.”
APUsyk is now a three-time undisputed world champion[/caption] Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
