Oleksandr Usyk picks apart Anthony Joshua’s performance against Daniel Dubois
Oleksandr Usyk has spoken out about Anthony Joshua’s latest defeat at the hands of Daniel Dubois, where the two-time world champion was the overwhelming favourite to win.
The British heavyweights clashed for Dubois’ IBF title at Wembley Stadium on September 21, in front of 96,000 fans.
The two-weight undisputed champion from Ukraine, who was watching from ringside, picked out what mistakes he believes Joshua made, starting with, “His footwork was the issue.”
He then added that there were mental issues as well as physical mistakes, “The mentality was the issue. Everything was the issue. I thought I seen the face of the man of AJ, but he was completely different on the inside.
“He didn’t look the way we expected him to look. did you see his right hand, it was all the way [down] on his chest.
“You know his chin, chin was up, it was like a [gift], a fairy-tale for any boxer.”
Despite being the strong favourite at the bookies, AJ was down in the very first round, courtesy of a long-reaching overhand right from the underdog.
Joshua’s left hand was hung so low that was open to DDD’s big right hand, plus his reaction times were very delayed, unable to get out of the way of anything Dubois threw. The bell saved AJ for the second round, then he was saved yet again in the third round by the bell.
In round four, Dubois landed a jab in the opening seconds that rocked AJ’s head back because his chin was high up in the air.
There was a glimmer of hope for Joshua in the first minute of the fifth round, when he landed a signature right cross that stiffened the legs of Dubois momentarily and forced him to retreat to the corner.
However, Joshua very crudely threw another two big right hands with his guard hung so low by his chest, but it was his final attempt to throw a right uppercut that was his undoing. He was not only completely open, but he telegraphed his right hand so much that Dubois just patiently waited to counter with a right hook of his own to knock him out completely. Read the full fight report here
For such an experienced two-time world champion, who had looked a lot better under the guidance of new trainer, Ben Davison, it really was a worrying performance from AJ.
It also puts his recent run of form under scrutiny having reeled off four straight wins since back to back defeats to Usyk, who is preparing to fight Tyson fury a second time in December.
Under Derrick James, Joshua won a chess match with Jermaine Franklin first, then he KO’d a 40-year-old Icelandic fighter in Robert Helenius, then he forced fringe contender Otto Wallin to retire after a five-round beatdown, all taking place in 2023.
In March 2024, he blasted MMA fighter Francis Ngannou away in two rounds, which is exactly what any boxer should do against an MMA fighter.
However, the Watford warrior has vowed to continue on his quest to become a three-time world champion, currently weighing up his options on whether to rematch Dubois or await the outcome of Fury-Usyk 2.