Usyk knocks out Dubois to become undisputed world heavyweight champion

London, July 21: Oleksandr Usyk cemented his status as the outstanding heavyweight of his generation with an emphatic fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois in their undisputed world title bout at London's Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Victory saw Ukraine's Usyk extend his unbeaten professional record to 24 fights as the WBA, WBC and WBO champion added his British opponent's IBF belt to his collection.

Usyk, now a two-time undisputed champion, dominated the opening four rounds.

And early in the fifth he dropped Dubois to the canvas.

Moments later he finished the fight in decisive fashion after a trademark left hook left his British rival unable to beat the count one minute and 52 seconds into the round.

It was the second time Usyk, at 38 some 11 years older than his opponent, had defeated Dubois following a ninth-round stoppage success in Krakow, Poland, in 2023, where the Briton was ruled to have landed an illegal low blow in the fifth round.

Lennox Lewis, the last British boxer to be undisputed world champion in 1999, forecast before Saturday's fight that Usyk would face a vastly-improved Dubois, saying: "Dubois was a baby in the sport and now he’s a man...You're not going to see the same Daniel Dubois from 18 months ago."

But after Usyk was roared into the ring by a huge contingent of supporters, many of them waving Ukraine national flags in a 90,000 capacity crowd at Wembley, best known as the London base of England's national football team, it was largely one-way traffic as their hero conducted a ruthless masterclass against local favourite Dubois.

"38 is a young guy, remember!," Usyk told DAZN in the ring after dropping to his knees in celebration. "38 is only start!

"I want to say thank you to Jesus Christ. I want to say thank you to my team and Wembley, thank you so much! It's for the people.

"Nothing is next. It's enough, next, I don't know. I want to rest. My family, my wife, my children, I want to rest now. Two or three months, I want to just rest."

Pacquiao held to draw 

Manny Pacquiao's bid to make a fairytale return to boxing at the age of 46 ended in disappointment on Saturday, as the Filipino icon was held to a draw by defending WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios in Las Vegas.

Barrios, 30, retained his belt despite being dominated for several rounds by Pacquiao, making a comeback to the ring after a four-year retirement.

Barrios was awarded the fight 115-113 by one judge, with the other two cards scoring it 114-114.

The result drew a subdued reaction from the MGM Grand Garden Arena crowd, who had roared on Pacquiao during a cagey, hard-fought contest.

At times, it seemed as if Pacquiao was poised to write another improbable chapter in his 30-year professional career as he used all of his guile and experience to frustrate Barrios.

But Barrios rallied furiously over the final three rounds -- he was deemed the winner of those rounds on all three cards -- to do just enough to force a result that sees him retain his title.

"I thought I won the fight," Pacquiao said afterwards. "I mean, it was a close fight. My opponent was very tough. But it was a wonderful fight. "I was trying to find a way to finish the fight but my opponent was so tough. He threw punches in combination and with defense, so it was hard."

Rodriguez stops Cafu 

American Jesse Rodriguez stopped South Africa's Phumelele Cafu in the 10th round on Saturday to win a world super flyweight title unification showdown of unbeatens at Frisco, Texas. 

Rodriguez landed a hard right hook and followed with an unchallenged series of punches that forced referee Hector Afu to stop the bout after two minutes and seven seconds of the 10th round.

"All I remember is I caught him with a right hook. That's about it," said Rodriguez.

"I felt like it was a good performance, my best performance up to today now. It was my toughest opponent, my toughest fight."

Rodriquez kept his WBC crown and took Cafu's WBO title, improving to 22-0 with his 15th victory inside the distance. Cafu fell to 11-1 with three drawn, his seven-fight win streak snapped in his US debut.

Fundora retain superwelter crown

Sebastian Fundora defeated Australia's Tim Tszyu by technical knockout to retain his World Boxing Council super-welterweight crown in Las Vegas.

A bruising, action-packed scrap at the MGM Grand Garden Arena ended when a bloodied Tszyu failed to come out for the eighth round.

"I gave it everything but I just couldn't do it," Tszyu said afterwards. "Victory belongs to Sebastian Fundora -- he's the best 154-pounder on the planet right now. "He was the better man. He's very hard to land, and he's tall ... I felt like I was shadow boxing with myself at times. It is what it is."

Fundora, 27, who improved to 23-1-1, with 15 knockouts, said he had been determined to exploit his advantages of height and reach.

"I felt like obviously I'm the bigger guy, and everyone's calling me a bully -- so you know what, let's start bullying these guys," Fundora said. (AFP)