Daniel Dubois was unfortunate to lose to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in Wroclaw, Poland on the weekend after being stopped in the ninth round. The British heavyweight failed to win a round, but was so close to having his hand raised after a knockdown on the Ukrainian was controversially ruled a low blow, which may have seen him steal the crown.

Despite his valiant efforts, Dubois suffered the second defeat of his boxing career just aged 25 after dropping to a knee and being stopped by the referee in his latest venture. Although close to winning just rounds before, 'Dynamite' has attracted surprise criticism from British boxing icon Tony Bellew who was not happy with the way he bowed out.

Dubois' controversial low blow

Usyk was looking to retain his titles in front of a raucous home crowd and got off to a brilliant start setting the tempo throughout and winning every round in dominant style, but Dubois managed to hang in there. The British heavyweight struggled to get around the solid southpaw jab of Usyk, who looked to be boxing his way to a routine victory.

However, in a hugely controversial moment for the sport, Usyk was sent crumbling to the canvas after Dubois landed a huge body blow which was ruled low by the referee. The champion was given several minutes to recover from the shot after it was ruled illegal, but footage appeared to cause contention as many suggested it was a perfectly acceptable body shot.

The shot has caused debate among the sport's elite, but Usyk was able to recover in a crucial turning point for the fight after seeming extremely hurt by the power of the body blow. That was Dubois' chance to end the show, in a showdown during which he then became unable to match his rival's boxing skills as it went on.

How the fight ended

Dubois then found himself on the back foot from that moment onwards, and the fight took a turn for the worst in round eight. Usyk put his foot on the gas and dropped his rival with the bell closing in, and he managed to survive and return to his corner to regroup. But the 25-year-old was on borrowed time and found himself dropped to his knee again after another bruising onslaught.

The referee then decided to step in and wave off the contest with a lack of protest from Dubois who could clearly sense that the fight was over for him after being hit with a series of clean combinations. This is now the second time in Dubois' career that he has been stopped, with fans and people in the sport accusing him of 'quitting' in a brutal defeat to Joe Joyce in an all-British clash in 2020.

Tony Bellew's criticism of Daniel Dubois

Bellew was previously on the opposite end of Dubois' side, criticising his decision to drop to a knee against 'The Juggernaut' three years ago in their behind-closed-doors encounter. And in typically brash Bellew fashion, the Liverpudlian immediately took to social media following the Usyk v Dubois encounter to voice his displeasure at questions thrown at his ex-opponent.

He wrote: "Anything below the naval is classed as low in boxing! "That’s not my opinion that’s a FACT! That’s the rules! Your shorts shouldn’t cover your naval because if they do the belt can be hit! This picture says a thousand words! Spew it once, and you’ll spew it again is also another fact!"

Daniel Dubois hits back at Tony Bellew

Dubois was left hugely angered after the fight was stopped at the weekend, which was largely down to his earlier controversial knockdown which he believes was fair. It is likely that Dubois will now appeal the result, despite later being stopped which is why Bellew was left up in arms on social media having jumped to the defence of Usyk suggesting there was a low blow.

But the young star who will be hoping to bounce back, and has since moved in a furious slap back at his doubters, to silence the criticism. "No, he wouldn't have got up," he said on talkSPORT. "We worked on that shot for weeks in camp. Jab, slip and then body shot. We pulled it off perfectly, and I feel like that was my moment, and it was stolen, taken out of my hands.

WATCH: Daniel Dubois hits back at critics

He then responded: "They're all haters, they sound like haters. You've got to know who your enemies are right now, so what they've got to say is expected really, we knew before that. I'm gutted still. I believe I should be world champion right now, and I feel like I've been cheated out of that."