Ukrainian WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) shared his thoughts on fellow Brit Daniel Dubois' (22-2, 21 KOs) victory over Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) for the IBF heavyweight title.
"Am I shocked by the result? No, I’m not shocked because this is boxing. Daniel Dubois was better today. Look, Joshua had one problem – that stance (leans back) – it's dangerous. If you want to take a step back, you can’t do it like that, because it’s risky," Usyk said.
Ready to Fight’s CBDO and Usyk’s promoter, Alexander Krassyuk, also gave his take on Dubois' confident win.
"Footwork was an issue, psychology was an issue – everything was an issue for Joshua. I feel like I saw a man with AJ’s face, but inside, it was someone completely different. He didn’t look like what we expected," said Krassyuk.
When asked about a potential rematch between Usyk and Dubois, Krassyuk responded:
"Why not? There were some questions in the first fight."
Usyk and Dubois previously fought in August 2023, with the Ukrainian winning via knockout in the 9th round.
As a reminder, on September 21 at Wembley Stadium in London, UK, Daniel Dubois knocked out Anthony Joshua with knockdowns occurring in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th rounds. After the final knockdown, Joshua couldn’t rise before the count. KO 5.