Promoter Frank Warren has officially appealed to the WBA for Losing Daniel Dubois to Oleksandr Usyk which was ruled a no contest and that a rematch was ruled.
The Briton Dubois, 26, defeated heavyweight champion Usyk in the fifth round in Poland on August 26, but the fist was declared a low blow by the referee.
Ukrainian Usyk, 36, stopped Dubois in the ninth round to retain his joint heavyweight title.
Warren confirmed to BBC Sport that the appeal had been lodged on Tuesday.
The WBA acknowledged the appeal in a statement posted on Wednesday, adding: “Any decision made regarding this situation will be made under WBA rules and communicated in a timely and appropriate manner.”
If the decision is not overturned, the promoter hopes that the sanctioning body may still order an immediate rematch.
Two-weight world champion Usyk was given nearly four minutes of recovery time by Puerto Rican official Luis Pabon as replays on three large screens inside the open-air stadium in Wroclaw showed Dubois’ hook landing on Usyk’s beltline.
Dubois was tired because Usyk dropped the challenger in the eighth and again in the ninth before Pabon stopped the fight.
Immediately after the fight, Dubois – who was the WBA’s mandatory challenger – felt that he had been “cheated” out of the victory.
The Londoner did not attend the post-fight news conference as Queensbury Promotions’ Warren and trainer Don Charles criticized the decision, before Usyk and his team insisted the low-blow decision was the right call.
The punch also divided opinion in the boxing world. Former world champion Carl Frampton, speaking on TV commentary, said the punch was legal while many boxers, including Usyk’s former opponent Tony Bellew, felt it was a low blow.
If a rematch is not ordered, Usyk could face Croatia’s IBF mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic, while an undisputed fight against Britain’s WBC champion Tyson Fury is also planned for early next year.
