
Oleksandr Usyk remains heavyweight champion but where does he go from here?
Daniel Dubois will appeal the final decision in his world heavyweight title fight with Oleksandr Usyk late on Saturday night in the rain in Wroclaw, Poland. Dubois went down on one knee after a jolting right jab in round nine and was counted out in that position. However, in round five he dropped Usyk with a right hand that fully landed on the Ukraine boxer’s waistband. Usyk was in agony, the referee, Luis Pabon, called “time out” and there was a wait of just under four minutes to allow Usyk sufficient time to recover. There was 2:29 left in the round when they started to fight again; the harsh truth is that Dubois let his opportunity for glory go and Usyk came back to take control. Usyk, incidentally, was badly shaken by the punch that sent him down. The controversy is simple: was the punch on the belt line of Usyk’s shorts legal or illegal? The closed fist clearly landed fully on the waistline – there is no claim that it connected with Usyk’s exposed torso, which would have settled the argument. Also, there is no claim from Usyk’s camp that it landed in the sensitive cup part of the protector; it fell in boxing’s hidden realm of interpretation. Dubois did not throw a low blow with intent and Usyk did not invent all of his pain. It is an area open to interpretation and debate. The sanctioning bodies will have to earn their fight fee now and make a ruling. “There is nothing wrong with that punch,” said Frank Warren, the promoter of Dubois. “We will be appealing the decision, this should be declared a no-contest and Daniel should get a rematch.” The referee, Warren insisted, had said at the rules meeting, a gathering held the day before the fight to highlight the fight rules, that punches on the belt line were legal. The punch was certainly no lower than the belt line. Usyk’s shorts were high enough to obscure his belly button and that is why referees often allow punches to the belt line to be considered legal. “That punch is low, look at the pictures,” said Alex Krassyuk, who is Usyk’s promoter. “That is not legal.” Usyk regained his feet, survived and won the remainder of round five, but was uncomfortable each time that Dubois targeted the body. It was an open secret that Dubois and his new coach, Don Charles, had a plan to slow down and hurt Usyk with body punches. The tactic worked, Usyk was rattled. Dubois increased the pressure in rounds six and seven, letting his hands go to body, head and waistline once again. Usyk had to be his evasive best, as smart as I have ever seen him. It was also obvious that Usyk was desperate to get Dubois out of the fight. Dubois was tiring, his left eye was starting to swell and close. It was a hard fight. There was a big Usyk finish in the seventh and Dubois had clearly slowed by round eight; Dubois was struggling, his desire in decline, his head popping back from Usyk’s stinging southpaw jabs. There were less than 10 seconds left in round eight when Dubois went down in an untidy heap; he fell to his knees trying to avoid an Usyk onslaught. He beat the count and the bell sounded. It was only a short reprieve. In the ninth round, Usyk finished the fight with a looping jab and Dubois tuned and took the final knee of the night. A round nine stoppage is a statistic that reveals very little of the fight’s drama. The waistline will be the storyline, but the finish should not be forgotten. Usyk retained his heavyweight belts, Dubois left demanding a rematch and about 40,000 fans danced in the rain as Usyk serenaded them from the ring. Tyson Fury was not ringside, but inevitably his towering presence was felt. Usyk and Fury have been on and off for about a year now; the fight boxing needs is proving hard to make. The confusion and controversy on Saturday night will not help. It often feels like Usyk, a national idol and ring genius, is chasing a roving spectre. Fury just keeps gliding in and out of the boxing shadows, hero one year, victim the next, and villain again. In Poland, as expected, Usyk was firmly under the ancient heavyweight beam and he deserves a place under that historic spotlight. Sure, he made the very most of the punch in the fifth. Dubois will get his rematch, Usyk will make his decision, and Fury will say he wants a piece of the action. It was some night in Wroclaw. Read More Major controversy as Oleksandr Usyk beats Daniel Dubois after ‘low blow’ body shot Daniel Dubois’ camp to lobby for No Contest after Oleksandr Usyk drama Robert Helenius failed drug test before fighting Anthony Joshua, Vada says
2023-08-27 20:15

Can Simone Biles maintain her lead and make history at the US Gymnastics Championships?
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Americans are being asked to consider tipping more often, but is it really required?
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US consumer spending is expected to cool further but not fall off a cliff
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Harry Kane offers hope of Premier League return with career longevity goal
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2023-08-27 19:28

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin confirmed dead in plane crash by Russian investigators
Russia’s Investigative Committee has confirmed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash. The committee said in a statement Sunday that after forensic testing, all 10 bodies recovered at the site of the crash were identified, and their identities “conform to the manifest.” Russia’s civil aviation authority earlier this week said Prigozhin, along with some of his top lieutenants, were on the list of those on board the plane that crashed Wednesday. “As part of the investigation of the plane crash in the Tver region, molecular-genetic examinations have been completed,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement on its site on the Telegram messaging app. “According to their results, the identities of all 10 dead were established. They correspond to the list stated in the flight sheet,” it said. Prigozhin’s private jet came down north-west of Moscow, killing all those on board. His right-hand man Dmitry Utkin was also on board the Embraer Legacy 600 jet, as well as five other passengers and three crew members, according to the passenger list. The Kremlin has denied speculation it was to blame for the crash. During a conference call with journalists on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC there was “lots of speculation” around the “tragic” deaths. “In the West, of course, this speculation comes from a certain angle. It’s all a complete lie,” Mr Peskov went on. Prigozhin’s plane crash comes just two months after his abortive mutiny on Russia’s top military chiefs, which culminated in a march on Moscow. President Vladimir Putin described that mutiny as a treacherous “stab in the back”, but later met with Prigozhin in the Kremlin and offered his condolences to the families of those that died in the crash. Once a businessman with a catering empire and an ally of Putin since the 1990s, Prigozhin went on to establish the Wagner Group in 2014, the mercenary force that has fought many of the hardest battles in Ukraine. More follows on this breaking news story.... Read More Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? Wagner Group chief killed in plane crash Prigozhin's final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him Wagner boss talks about ‘plane falling apart in the air’ in resurfaced clip fuelling conspiracy theories The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary
2023-08-27 19:28

Russia says it confirmed Wagner leader Prigozhin died in a plane crash
Russia’s Investigative Committee has confirmed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash
2023-08-27 19:28

How tall is Blake Lively? Actress recalled being called Big Bird due to her towering stature
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2023-08-27 19:27

Wagner boss talks about ‘plane falling apart in the air’ in resurfaced clip fuelling conspiracy theories
A resurfaced clip of the Wagner leader feared dead in a plane crash has resurfaced on social media, stoking conspiracy theories about his presumed demise. In the 40-second clip, the Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin compared Russia’s trajectory in the war to a plane that will “fall apart in the air”. The ominous comparison has now added fuel to fire in the theory the Wagner chief was killed the order of Russian president Vladimir Putin, after Prigozhin is said to be one of the passengers on a private jet that crashed northwest of Moscow with no survivors on Wednesday. The incident occurred just two months after he shocked the global stage by leading a mutiny against Putin, before abruptly calling off the half-baked uprising at the eleventh hour. In the video taken from an interview originally published on April 29 with Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, Prigozhin said he would rather be killed than lie to his country, and talked about a plane disintegrating in the sky. “Today we have reached the boiling point,” he said in the clip published on Grey Zone, Wagner’s Telegram channel. “Why am I speaking so honestly? Because I don’t have the right, before those people who will live on in this country. They are now being lied to. Better kill me.” He added: “But I will not lie, I must say honestly that Russia is on the brink of disaster. And if these cogs are not adjusted today, then the plane will fall apart in the air.” Hundreds of responses had been posted on Grey Zone within a few hours. “But he knew,” a Telegram user whose name translates to “outpost” wrote in the first response. Some posts speculated Prigozhin was still alive, with one claiming he would “soon jump out of a snuffbox and make the devils c*** themselves.” The Kremlin has said Western suggestions he had been killed on its orders were an “absolute lie.” Read More Prigozhin's final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance following Prigozhin plane crash If the Wagner mercenary chief is dead, he got the death he deserved Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin’s strongest line of defence ‘broken by Kyiv forces’ Prigozhin's final months were overshadowed by questions about what the Kremlin had in store for him Putin orders Wagner fighters to sign oath of allegiance after Prigozhin death
2023-08-27 18:56

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Arsenal set Premier League record after another conceded goal in first minute
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Trump campaign raises $7.1m following historic Georgia mugshot
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2023-08-27 18:52