I don’t know what it is about Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), but he has always fought seemingly without a sense of urgency.
Standing at 6’6” and weighing 240 pounds, Anthony Joshua is a mountain of a man who can hurt an opponent.
In his last outing against Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) a few weeks ago — a fight he really needed to win to revive his flailing career — he had several chances of turning the tide around, but he was just too complacent to take advantage of the opportunities.
THE FIGHT. From the get-go, Dubois was slow-starting Joshua and testing his shaky chin.
True enough, with only a couple of seconds remaining in the very first round, Dubois landed an overhand, wasted no time in doing what he had to do. He took the fight to the notoriously right and landed violently a smack on Joshua’s jaw, immediately dropping the Englishman.
You would think that would jolt Joshua out of his stupor and compel him to fight more urgently, but no. Dubois proceeded to batter him for the next few rounds, which culminated in a second knockdown just as the bell rang to end the third.
Mind you, during all this time, Joshua landed his fair share of leather, but he was just unable or perhaps unwilling to follow up on his offensive spurts.
At the start of the fourth, he was knocked down again, and he tried to survive Duboi’s follow-up onslaught.
And then it happened: Joshua landed a monster uppercut that wobbled Dubois for a split second in the middle of the ring.
But what does AJ do? Does he follow it up with a combination? Does he go for broke knowing he is behind on the cards?
No, he just stands there looking like a schmuck, admiring his handiwork.
In what would prove to be the final round of the fight, Dubois has Joshua tied up along the corner, and you can see Joshua stick his tongue out to someone in the crowd, seemingly more concerned about appearances. He wanted to tell the world he was okay.
And then it happens again. In the next sequence, he lands a monster of a right hand that hurts Dubois, drawing oohs and aahs from the crowd. To his credit, this time he does try to follow up and aggressively pursues Dubois.
Alas, he was met with a counterright hand that Dubois timed perfectly. It didn’t feel like it was thrown with much torque, but Joshua’s momentum carried him into that punch.
He fell face first and tried to get up but to no avail.
Moral of the story? Take advantage of the limited opportunities that come your way. Boxing is a story unfolding in seconds.
Dubois was always present in the moment. Joshua was too complacent and smug. That usually leads to a horizontal ending.
LAST ROUND. It’s on my kumpare Eddy Basa, who recently celebrated his birthday. Cheers!
