5 basic boxing techniques Daniel Dubois beat Anthony Joshua with
Daniel Dubois made a statement with his spectacular victory over Anthony Joshua in their long-awaited grudge match. Around eight years after their infamous sparring session, in which Dubois supposedly stunned 'AJ,' they clashed in a professional boxing match on the grand stage of Wembley in London, England, on Sept. 21, 2024.
'Dynamite' scored four official knockdowns against the 34-year-old Joshua, ultimately securing a fifth-round KO victory and defending his IBF heavyweight title in style.
Is an 'AJ' rematch next? Could Dubois instead pursue an undisputed title fight against the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury rematch winner? The sky is the limit for the 27-year-old.
Today, we revisit Dubois' star-making performance and examine how strong boxing fundamentals earned him the win.
#5 Daniel Dubois won the battle of the jabs
Daniel Dubois won the battle of the jabs against Anthony Joshua, which helped him win the war. Yes. It sounds clichéd. No. You don't necessarily need to have a legendary jab like Larry Holmes to out-jab your opponent.
Dubois' and Joshua's jabs aren't as diverse as Holmes'. Nevertheless, what 'Dynamite' showed against 'AJ' was the willingness to sacrifice his jab's power to land it from awkward angles. It played a crucial role in disrupting Joshua's rhythm. Dubois stuck to the basic rule that landing your jab first takes precedence over landing your jab powerfully. Overall, his priorities were clear -- hit and don't get hit.
Dubois craftily used the jab to feint, landed it after cutting angles from the inside and outside, and also occasionally faked a low strike to go up top from a lateral angle. He mixed it up so well that it earned him opportunities to plant his feet and land power jabs as well, even rocking Joshua with a few well-timed jabs.
#4 Great ring generalship
Anthony Joshua's longtime rival, fellow British boxing icon Tyson Fury, has often referred to him as a 'big, stiff idiot' and a 'bodybuilder.' Fury and a few other critics have time and again lambasted Joshua for a supposedly robotic style of boxing. However, one simply can't discredit Joshua's great ring generalship.
Joshua did struggle to cut off the ring against the great Wladimir Klitschko when the latter was right at the end of his career nonetheless. To be fair, he did ultimately knock Klitschko out. 'AJ' was also unable to efficiently cut off the ring against Oleksandr Usyk (in both fights) and Andy Ruiz Jr. (in their first fight).
That said, 'AJ' didn't even get the opportunity to use his famed ring generalship against Daniel Dubois. Instead, it was the latter who was constantly the aggressor and cut off the ring despite being at a four-inch reach and a one-inch height disadvantage. Dubois' lateral movement and ability to swiftly pivot helped him cover distance quicker and swarm his bigger foe.
Both fighters fought from the orthodox stance, making it a closed-stance fight. Dubois' exceptional eye-foot coordination helped him efficiently change directions. For instance: In one sequence, Joshua was circling away from the power right. Dubois kept following 'AJ' without overextending and deftly shuffled his feet to cut off the ring with a left hook.
Another important point is that Dubois' disciplined ring generalship precipitated the first, and arguably most impactful, knockdown of the fight. Joshua thought he had an escape route from a potential exchange. Dubois' eye-feet coordination, smooth footwork, and overall ring generalship helped him drop Joshua with the right hand.
Joshua's error of leaning way back without moving his feet with him, something that Usyk pointed out after the Joshua-Dubois fight, also worsened the impact of Dubois' aforementioned punch.
Check out Oleksandr Usyk's assessment below (1:10):
#3 Defensive responsibility
The post-fight interviews at Wembley and beyond saw some deem the outcome a massive upset, whereas others indicated that Daniel Dubois' victory was indicative of him claiming another victim in Anthony Joshua.
A common theme in most post-fight opinions, including that of former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, was the assertion that Joshua wasn't defensively responsible. He kept his hands low, chin high, and was reckless in retracting his hand after throwing punches.
On the contrary, Dubois' fundamentals were on point. He kept his hands up when needed, chin adequately tucked, and respected Joshua's power enough to retract his hands quickly even though he had 'AJ' hurt right from round one.
Importantly, even when Joshua finally caught him with a good right hand in round five, Dubois reset, retreated, carefully rolled with his foe's punches, and delivered the finishing blow.
Never forget -- no one is invincible, and anything is possible in a fight. The uber-confident Joshua appeared to let his confidence be his undoing by not respecting dangerous Dubois' punching power. By the time he started raising his gloves to block, it was too late. He'd already been knocked down multiple times and dazedly staggered around the ring.
Check out Lennox Lewis' criticism of Anthony Joshua's defense below (2:00):
#2 Remember what Cus D'Amato taught Mike Tyson?
Legendary boxing trainer Cus D'Amato's most famous protégé, 'Iron' Mike Tyson, made a career out of knocking out skilled gigantic heavyweights. Among other techniques taught to him by D'Amato, the 5'10" Tyson masterfully utilized the old-school bobbing and weaving method.
The former undisputed heavyweight champion often credits his late trainer for that technique, as it helped him overcome massive reach and height disadvantages to overwhelm larger opponents. Daniel Dubois showed glimpses of a prime Mike Tyson. Granted that Dubois is much taller than 'Iron,' but he was still smaller against the towering Joshua.
Dubois' bobbing and weaving weren't as fast as Tyson's, but it was effective regardless. Joshua tends to probe with the long jab and even post on his opponents before clinching or sniping them from range, and Dubois capitalized on that with Tyson-esque entries into range.
The caveat with bobbing and weaving is that it tends to be energy-consuming. Tyson himself fell victim to using it recklessly and gassing himself out in fights in his career's latter stages. Dubois showed veteran savvy by using it sparingly, not tiring himself out, and not chasing the knockout. It helped create invaluable angles to repeatedly catch Joshua in bad positions.
#1 Straight punches beat looping punches
Anthony Joshua was supposedly drilling the uppercut and counter-uppercut before fighting Daniel Dubois. Joshua's long been known for possessing a vicious uppercut and adeptly using his height to catch opponents ducking or sometimes even while they're upright -- memorably landing the iconic uppercut against the legendary Klitschko.
Perhaps Joshua and his trainer Ben Davison were expecting Dubois to come in low and throw overhands, which he did! What they probably didn't expect was Dubois not spamming wide overhand rights and instead mixing in more jabs and straights/crosses. Less looping hooks and more straight punches were Dubois' mantra against Joshua.
Furthermore, Joshua seemed to be throwing a bolo punch or deep uppercut, loading up and swinging from way below, which helps add momentum but takes more time to reach the target. Dubois countered the uppercut with the short right, most notably in the final sequence of the fight -- knocking 'AJ' down again and rendering him unable to beat the referee's count.
Check out the full fight below: