BOXING fans were quick to spot a "trick" used by Oleksandr Usyk during his bout against Daniel Dubois on Saturday.
The Ukrainian retained his WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles after beating the Brit into submission.
However, the fight was blighted by controversy after Dubois floored his opponent with a contentious punch in the fifth round.
The hit – which appeared to land on or just below the waistband – was immediately deemed an illegal blow and Usyk was given four minutes to recover before continuing.
Dubois was left furious and claimed he was "cheated" out of world title glory as a result.
Many fans were also frustrated at the outcome, with some even suggesting that the fight was fixed.
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However, some eagle-eyed fans noticed a familiar "trick" that was used by Usyk during his fight against Anthony Joshua last year.
The 36-year-old took a short amount of time to recover from a body shot from AJ before going the distance and eventually winning the bout.
One person tweeted: "Joshua hurt Usyk so bad with a body shot he pretended it was low to buy time. Does he have a glass body, and can Dubois exploit it?"
Another wrote: "Woah what a call!"
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While a third added: "Ooooo wow. What a cheat it’s a trick he uses lol, he pretends to be hit below to buy time same thing with Joshua."
During a post-fight press conference, boxing promoter Frank Warren admitted that Dubois' game plan was to target Usyk with body shots.
He said: "The game plan all along was looking for body shots. We felt that was the chink in Usyk's armour and that was what Daniel was trying to exploit.
"Eventually he did do that and he's been cheated out of a victory."
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