{"id":293185,"date":"2023-10-28T04:11:29","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T04:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=293185"},"modified":"2023-10-28T04:11:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T04:11:29","slug":"usyk-defiantly-brushes-off-claims-he-struggles-to-cope-with-body-shots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/boxing\/usyk-defiantly-brushes-off-claims-he-struggles-to-cope-with-body-shots\/","title":{"rendered":"Usyk defiantly brushes off claims he struggles to cope with body shots"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Oleksandr Usyk defiantly brushes off suggestions he struggles to cope with body shots as he references Daniel Dubois&#8217; &#8216;below the belt&#8217; shot while attending Tyson Fury v Francis Ngannou boxing gala in Saudi Arabia<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Tyson Fury faces Francis Ngannou in the Battle of the Baddest in Saudi Arabia\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Oleksandr Usyk is in Saudi Arabia with the Ukrainian next in line to face Fury\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>LISTEN: Exclusive Tyson Fury interview on THE HOOK &#8211; our new boxing podcast<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Oleksandr Usyk has hit back at claims that he can&#8217;t handle body shots, by referencing his controversial clash with Daniel Dubois.<\/p>\n<p>The Ukrainian retained his IBF, WBA and WBO world heavyweight titles when he stopped Dubois in the ninth round of their clash back in August.<\/p>\n<p>Though he dominated the bout, he was in real distress in the fifth round as he slumped to the canvas after Dubois landed a heavy shot on the beltline\u00a0 &#8211; which he was given four minutes to recover from, though his opponent did not have a point deducted.<\/p>\n<p>Usyk is currently in Saudi Arabia to watch Tyson Fury&#8217;s crossover bout with MMA star Francis Ngannou on Saturday &#8211; ahead of a potential future unified heavyweight clash with the Gypsy King.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Mail Sport while at a gala on Friday evening ahead of the big clash in Saudi Arabia tomorrow, Usyk defiantly responded to claims that he can&#8217;t handle body shots.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/27\/21\/77096007-0-image-a-19_1698437945280.jpg\" height=\"741\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Oleksandr Usyk has defiantly hit back at suggestions that he can&#8217;t handle body shots<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/27\/21\/77096219-12681513-image-a-44_1698438353795.jpg\" height=\"453\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Usyk referenced his controversial clash with Daniel Dubois back in August where it was deemed his opponent caught him with an accidental low blow despite fierce debate\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/27\/21\/77094605-0-image-a-5_1698437344727.jpg\" height=\"407\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Usyk is in Saudi Arabia ahead of Fury&#8217;s bout with Francis Ngannou (seen face-to-face with the Gypsy King after the latter&#8217;s bout with Derek Chisora back in December 2022)<\/p>\n<p>When the question was put to him, Usyk responding to his interpreter, appeared fired up as he pointed below his waistline and gave his answer before walking off.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His interpreter then told Mail Sport: &#8216;That they not punch me below the beltline.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Usyk also said that his chances of beating Fury are &#8216;looking very good&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Dubois&#8217; beltline shot on Usyk sparked much debate, with some feeling that he had been &#8216;robbed&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>His bid to have the result changed to a no-contest due to the debatable low blow was later rejected by the WBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Video footage has circulated of Usyk and Fury hugging at Friday night&#8217;s gala in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p>It was announced in September that Fury, who holds the WBC heavyweight title, will box Usyk, who is unified champion,<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s anticipated that Usyk and Fury could go face-to-face after the latter&#8217;s bout with Ngannou on Saturday night.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/boxing\/article-12681513\/Oleksandr-Usyk-defiantly-brushes-suggestions-struggles-cope-body-shots-references-Daniel-Dubois-belt-shot-attending-Tyson-Fury-v-Francis-Ngannou-boxing-gala-Saudi-Arabia.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Oleksandr Usyk defiantly brushes off suggestions he struggles to cope with body shots as he references Daniel Dubois&#8217; &#8216;below the belt&#8217; shot while attending Tyson <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/boxing\/usyk-defiantly-brushes-off-claims-he-struggles-to-cope-with-body-shots\/\" title=\"Usyk defiantly brushes off claims he struggles to cope with body shots\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Usyk defiantly brushes off claims he struggles to cope with body shots - Sportstoft<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/boxing\/usyk-defiantly-brushes-off-claims-he-struggles-to-cope-with-body-shots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Usyk defiantly brushes off claims he struggles to cope with body shots - Sportstoft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Oleksandr Usyk defiantly brushes off suggestions he struggles to cope with body shots as he references Daniel Dubois&#8217; 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