Anthony Joshua challenged Daniel Dubois for the IBF heavyweight championship, losing by KO on Saturday. Most dominant heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk was on hand to see the action at Wembley Stadium in London. What’s more — he got face-to-face with UFC superstar Conor McGregor backstage and did something unexpected.
Anthony Joshua’s defeat by fifth-round knockout in front of 98,000 had attracted many personalities. Tyson Fury, Brit musician Liam Gallagher, Maya Jama, and others attended the event. Conor McGregor met and shook with the four-belt era’s unified champ Oleksandr Usyk backstage. When he left, Usyk was highly complimentary. He even mimicked Mac’s billionaire strut, which so many others have done.
McGregor, 36, has not fought since his July 2021 TKO and leg break. The Irishman, away from the fighting, does keep to his promoter and equity-owner roles for bare-knuckle boxing. A massive enthusiast and a fan of AJ, he even weighed in on the loss later. He and Anthony Joshua also went viral last year after the Joshua vs. Robert Helenius scrap at O2 Arena.
Despite his long absence and waning effect, Conor McGregor remains a true icon of combat sports. The linkup between the two and Usyk’s strut is one of the best things on the internet today. This is especially given how acute yet fickle the state of heavyweight boxing is. Usyk had some sage words about the knockout.
Oleksandr Usyk reveals Anthony Joshua’s mistake
Anthony Joshua lost his dip for the IBF heavyweight title in front of a sellout home crowd this weekend. IBF Interim champion Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois rocked him hard for a 4th time at 0:59 of R5 to win. Oleksandr Usyk says Anthony Joshua made a big mistake in leaning back, and IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois took advantage with his final KO punch.
Oleksandr Usyk weighs in on Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois fallout (Source: X/ringtv.com)Usyk beat a better version of Joshua in both fights and didn’t lean backward like against Daniel Dubois (22-2-0, 21 KOs). It’s not clear whether Joshua has been watching films of other fighters and trying to model his style on theirs. AJ had talked about studying the late heavyweight champ Sonny Liston, but Liston used to lean.
Liston was a slugger who went after his opponents, unlike the defensively stuttering AJ. The discourse put Joshua on the edge of a fast-paced fight that the heavy-handed boxer was not ready for. While he does have the option of a rematch clause, Joshua would have to make some serious changes.
Well [I’m] not shocked…because this is boxing. Daniel Dubois today was better, …When you step back like this [leaning back], it’s dangerous…When I beat Joshua a second time, I don’t know what’s next.
Oleksandr Usyk to Boxing King Media
Joshua landed 32 of 117 punches, 2 of which landed on the body. Subsequently, eighteen of these were jabs, and the other 14 were power punches, but none good. The British KO artist was most active in R3, threw 33 punches, and landed 9 in the third round. However, the opponent just had a better showing.
Dubois’ perfect game plan answered Joshua’s active rounds with fateful rights and ranged shots of his own. Dubois was coming forward with hard shots, looking to tag fateful rights the entire fight. It was shown against the former unified champion. Consequently, Usyk is here for such dominance.
