Daniel Dubois staged a superb comeback victory after a major scare against Kevin Lerena with trainer Shane McGuigan fearing the heavyweight has suffered knee ligament damage.
The Londoner was dropped early in the first round on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Derek Chisora after a huge hit, hitting the canvas twice more with his balance completely gone after appearing to hurt his leg.
Dubois scrambled back to his corner after surviving the first round and went into survival mode during a tough second as sought to find his bearings.
A superb third however saw the 25-year-old regain control, dropping the South African with a vicious right down the middle.
A vicious flurry at the end of the round had Lerena out on his feet, taking clean shots with referee Howard Foster stepping in to stop the contest.
‘He caught me on the top of the head and I think my knee went but I have the heat of a warrior,’ Dubois said post-fight.
I didn’t feel it, the shot, I don’t know. S**t happens. I was just saying get back to your boxing and calm it down. I was looking for shots that weren’t there. I listened to Shane and I had to recover.’
Discussing the injury, McGuigan said: ‘You can see on his leg, it was really swollen when we were up there for photos. I think he has done of his ligaments on his knee.
‘You could see there was no strength there, he was trying to punch in the first round but his knee was bucking. We will have to go get a scan. But it is sink or swim in these situations and he swam tonight.
‘You could see he had no strength in the back leg because he has obviously twisted it when he’s gone down. But he finished it in a fashion.’
Dubois will now undergo scans to determine the severity of the injury.
‘Right now we have to go get him a scan. Obviously we have mentioned the likes of Dillian Whyte, these British fighters, Dan needs a big name like that in the UK. He wants to be headlining these shows. But we will get the scan done and see how long he is going to be out for.
Asked how long Dubois may be sideliend for, he added: ‘Normally a ligament takes quite a bit if time. But we have some good physios, lets see the extent of the damage.’
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