Saturday night saw one of the biggest nights in British boxing history as the IBF heavyweight title was on the line as well as bragging rights in London. Former two-time world heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua faced fellow Londoner, Daniel Dubois in what promised fireworks before the fight even started.
What played out shocked everyone.
From the first round, it was clear that Dubois was the kingslayer that he promised to be. He dominated the ring, landed on Joshua at will, rocked him multiple times, dropped him four times and in the fifth round put an end to things, rendering AJ unable to continue. Let’s not take anything away from Dubois, he was phenomenal on the night. Showed that he was the dominant man in the ring and ultimately ended Joshua’s career at the elite level. With that being said, Joshua didn’t seem himself. We take a look into how he differed from past performances.
Low, Lazy Guard
Against Dubois, Joshua’s guard was uncharacteristically low. He seemed laboured and didn’t keep his hands up when he was in range, which is not something we’ve become accustomed to with Joshua. He’s always been a good, technical boxer, winning an Olympic gold medal in 2012. He typically keeps his guard high and is able to parry plenty of shots when they’re thrown at him.
See here against Robert Hilenius, he constantly has a high guard, protecting his head.
Similarly against Jermain Franklin in his comeback fight, Joshua was slick and sharp. He constantly kept his guard high, was defensively aware and when he threw out jabs, his rear hand was always protecting his chin.
Against Dubois, as early as the first round his hands were extremely low, with his backhand very low in particular. His lead hand did paw away at Dubois, however, whenever he bought it back to his body, it appeared that he was happy to have it hanging lower than usual. The difference in Joshua’s guard between the Franklin fight and the Dubois fight is clear and obvious.
This is just one example of how lazy Joshua was with regards to his guard. The knockdown in the first round from Dubois stunned the crowd and Joshua, who never fully recovered from the shot. The strike came after Joshua overswung with a huge right hand which led to a momentary separation between the two men. Joshua backed up slightly but again, had his hands dangerously low, which he ultimately paid for.
We can see here from the screenshot that Dubois had a huge target to aim for on Joshua’s chin, which he ultimately landed. Note also just how big the shot is from Dubois. He swings right from his pocket with a massive overhand. That should have been a red flag for team AJ. If Dubois is able to load up and land on Joshua, something needs to change. More often than not it’s the shots that you don’t see coming that land the hardest and do the most damage. All 96,000 fans saw Dubois throw this shot, vitally, however, Joshua didn’t…
Again, note where Joshua’s lazy guard is. Front hand chest height and rear hand no where near his chin.
Lazy Uppercut
Jumping ahead to the finish, again saw lazy work for AJ. We’ve already looked at how lacklustre Joshua was with regards to his defence and his offence wasn’t his sharpest either. He rocked Dubois with a straight right and rushed in for the kill. His trainer, Ben Davison told him to throw the uppercut in an attempt to catch Dubois and props to Joshua, he followed that advice. With that being said, the actual shot wasn’t crisp, tight or thrown with much vigour.
If we look back at one of Joshua’s biggest knockouts, his uppercut finish of Dillian Whyte back in 2015, it was tight and effective in going from point A to point B (Whyte’s chin) with little wasted movement.
Again, we can see in this screenshot of the finishing shot just how tight Joshua’s uppercut against Whyte was. No wasted movement, close to the body and driving upwards.
Against Duboius, the uppercut he threw (which was countered and saw him knocked out) was lazy, wide and loose.
Someone as skilled as Dubois was always going to make an opponent pay for such sloppy work. Unfortunately for the Watford native, he was the one on the wrong end of a short right hand straight to the chin. The screenshot below shows how Dubois’ eyes light up as he is presented with a wide-open target.
Same Old
Throughout the fight, AJ struggled to handle Dubois’ power. We all know that the 27-year-old has phenomenal knockout power. Prior to the bout, he had 20 knockouts to his name, only going to decision once in his career. Every time that Joshua got hit, he stayed hit and looked hurt. Dubois threw lightening quick jabs all night, landing at will and flicking the head of Joshua back every single time.
When he was landed on in a big fashion, Joshua couldn’t return with anything of note and was forced to back up and hold, something that he has struggled with throughout his career.
It was a truly shocking performance from AJ, however, you have to give the props to Dubois. He was simply put, the better, hungrier man in the ring at Wembley and rightfully got the win.
As for Joshua, he’s confirmed that he won’t retire, however, he’s as far away from the world titles of the division as he’s ever been.
