Dubois stops game Lerena in 3 after early crisis.

WBA regular heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois 19-1 (18 KOs) overcame a huge crisis on the Fury v Chisora undercard on Saturday when he climbed off the floor three times in the opener against Kevin Lerena 28-2 (14 KOs) before rallying in round three to stop the South African challenger with a devastating volley of punches. The highly unfavored Lerena hurt Dubois half way through round one with a shot to the temple forcing the once beaten title holder to take a count. Moments later Dubois took a second count without a punch being thrown and 15 seconds after this knockdown took a third knee when he appeared unsteady on his feet. Daniel appeared to injure his ankle when he was unbalanced from the initial punch in round one and struggled to maintain his balance for the remainder of the round. Trainer Shane Mcguigan told reporters after the bout, it was sick or swim, crisis can’t be prepared for and Dubois literally had to dig deep and show immense character to halt his unbeaten opponent two sessions later. Referee Howard Foster halted the fight to prevent the challenger from taking unnecessary punishment. Incidentally the bell did ring to end round 3 as Lerena was taking the count from Foster, and wasn’t offered the opportunity to recover between rounds, yet when Dubois was hurt badly in round 1, he walked to his corner with 9 seconds left in the round and was allowed to do so. Despite the finish appearing clinical from Daniel, the performance at large was unimpressive and exposed a lot of flaws to capitalise on.