Boxer suffers painful fate after bravely stepping in at short notice on Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury undercard

Ishmael Davis was forced to retire in his corner after being brutally dropped by Serhii Bohachuk.

Bohachuk made his undercard return in compatriot Oleksandr Usyk’s heavyweight rematch against Tyson Fury in Riyadh.

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The Ukrainian was due to face Israil Madrimov in a WBC super welterweight eliminator, but his rival was forced to withdraw due to acute bronchitis.

He instead faced Britain’s Davis who stepped in on two weeks’ notice, in a huge advance in pursuit of an improbable triumph.

23 of the Ukrainian’s 24 professional victories had come by knockout, and he looked to follow that path by dropping his rival with a crunching left hook.

The punches continued to rule the house and Davis was unfortunately taken out by his corner in the sixth round, after taking a brutal beating.

It was a courageous effort, but unfortunately the relentless puncher was victorious.

Davis had everything to do after losing to Josh Kelly in September when he stepped up again on short notice, showing real heart to continue to take every opportunity available.

Incredibly, he started well to nail Bohacuk with a clean right hook, a shot that had the Ukrainian shaking in his boots.

It was a strong first round, taking the heavy favorite by surprise, as Bohachuk looked to overcome a difficult first period.

But things went awry when the powerhouse star took control in the second round and flattened the Briton with a crackling left hook.

He was wobbly on his feet with 20 seconds left in the stanza and beat the count, but it was a heavy, explosive shot.

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Luckily, he regrouped and returned for the third period, and attempted to get back into the fight despite suffering a cut under his eye from the shattering blow.

The fifth round saw Davis begin to attempt to let go of some shots, as he tried to match him in the powerful close exchanges, but struggled.

A few explosive blows continued to make their mark and it was only a matter of time for the Briton, who hung on and remained determined.

Unfortunately, he was forced to retreat to his corner, with the powerful blows piling up and leading to the competition being called off.

Promoter Eddie Hearn was walking around the fighters’ corner, as they weren’t sure how long the fight would last.

Davis took no unnecessary damage and can be very proud of his efforts, stepping in valiantly to allow Bohachuk onto the card.

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Also on an eventful card, Peter McGrail suffered a bad cut in a controversial defeat to another late replacement in Rhys Edwards.

The Welshman put in a brilliant display after finding out he would be fighting a few days before and came up just short.

British heavyweight Johnny Fisher was dropped, but somehow he scored a decision victory over Dave Allen, a decision not popular with the boxing public.

Tyson Fury’s training partner Isaac Lowe was also on the card but was left frustrated after being deducted two points in a tough defeat.