I have to commend him on his performance,” Dubois says. “I gave everything I had. There were probably a few things I could have sharpened up on. But take no credit away from the man, I’ll be back.”

He’s asked if he thought he should have targeted Usyk more to the body like his corner was telling him to do between rounds.

“I was just fighting, man,” he says. “I was in a fight and I was just trying to figure out round by round, but it is what it is. I’ll be back.”

Dubois’ co-trainer Don Charles reserves high praise for Usyk, agreeing that his fighter was simply in with an all-time great tonight.

“Most definitely, that was never in doubt,” Charles says. “We tried to get going. He’s a young champion, Daniel Dubois. Twenty-seven years old, remarkable what he’s achieved to date. He’ll be back from this, stronger. That’s a great champion, a generational great. If you’re going to lose, lose someone like that, you understand? He’ll be back from this.”

Adds Dubois: I want to thank everyone for coming out. I gave my best. We’ll go back to the drawing board and come again.”

Frank Warren, who promotes Dubois, echoes the praise for Usyk, saying: “Oleksandr Usyk is a modern-day legend. He’s an unbelievable fighter. In any generation, he’d be a great fighter. And I take my hat off to him tonight. You know, Daniel was ready for it. He was up and trained hard. No complaints, no excuses. The better man won on the night. He is a fabulous, fabulous champion.”

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