Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois Rematch – Who Wins?
I’m sure I won’t be alone by saying I was surprised at the result of the Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois bout. Whilst in heavyweight boxing there’s always the puncher’s chance, the way in which Dubois blasted Anthony Joshua out of there was a big surprise.
There were real signs of improvement in Anthony Joshua under the tutelage of Ben Davison. In his bouts against Helenius, Wallin and Ngannou we’d seen a mixture of solid boxing fundamentals and devastating knockout power. It was arguably the best version of Anthony Joshua we’d ever seen. So much so, I personally expected Dubious to be a tough fight, but one AJ would win by late stoppage.
How wrong I was. Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois
From the first few moments, AJ had it coming. He was uncharacteristically lacking in his defence. His arms were low, he didn’t seem to respect what Dubois could do.
And it cost him.
To many, this was expected to have been somewhat of a formality for Anthony Joshua. Box Dubois, keep him at range, wait til he tires, take him out. A cross between the Joe Joyce and Usyk approaches. Do what you know works.
Tactics Wrong From the First Bell
Perhaps buoyed by his recent upturn in form, Joshua appeared to go in there with intent to knock Dubois out early. Arms down, engage in a firefight.
Now, if you’ve got a great chin, that’s a risky, but not ridiculous strategy. You’ve just got to hope you land enough to cause your opponent more damage than you take yourself. The issue is, AJ hasn’t got a great chin.
We saw that against Ruiz. Against Usyk in the first fight he was saved by the ropes and the bell. Against Dubois, he didn’t have anything to save him, other than the referee. He doesn’t have the powers of recovery that Tyson Fury has for example. When AJ goes down, you’re expecting him to lose.
So he’s foolish to get into firefights. He’s just too vulnerable. You’d think he would have learned by now – he’s 35. He’s had 32 fights, 12 of them with a recognised world title on the line. He’s not the ‘raw’ AJ we used to know. He’s a veteran now, and the excuses of youth and inexperience are long gone. I could imagine Eddie Hearn was quietly furious with him.
The loss cost him a world title. It reduced the interest and the prize pot for a fight with Tyson Fury. It lowered his stock dramatically. It put AJ down in the pecking order domestically. As blunders go, this is the biggest one of his career. You can excuse the Ruiz loss – last minute opponent change, complacency, inexperience etc. You can forgive the Usyk losses – best in the division etc.
This one, no chance. It was just a dreadful performance.
Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois – Don’t Write AJ Off in a Rematch
I’ll put my position out there. I still think in an Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois rematch, AJ triumphs.
You’ve got to hope he’s learned a lesson from the first bout. Dubois has literally beat the respect into AJ. He’ll have learned he can’t engage in a swinging match. It’s not that he can’t win a swinging match – he can, if he lands early. If he gets caught, he’s out.
AJ is still one of the best finishers in boxing. He’s big, he’s powerful, his shots are accurate. He can box. Whilst he’s not the slick, smooth, technical genius that Usyk is, you can’t say that AJ isn’t able to box. He’s more than capable of beating Dubois, but he’s going to have to approach it differently.
Think of the AJ vs Ruiz rematch. Knowing that engaging in a firefight cost him first time, AJ used his boxing skills to win the rematch by a mile. He’ll need to do the same against Dubois, looking for a late stoppage as the younger, less experienced Dubios fatigues.
If he doesn’t, and ends up being stopped by Dubois a second time, it’ll likely be all over for AJ at world level. The Fury fight doesn’t hold as much appeal, and then the only real fights out there are against the likes of Zhang, Hrgovic and Kabayel.
When you’ve headlined Wembley, it’s hard to get fired up for those kind of fights.
