The RedCafe Boxing Thread

AJ needs to retire. He's got nothing left, he's not got whatever he once had anymore. It's sad to watch.

No real interest in Fury/AJ at this point, the moment is long long long gone sadly.

Cracking night for Dubois though, really happy for him.
 
Red_Aaron said:
It was over in the first - AJ never recovered from that shot despite lasting a few more rounds

You wonder if he could've been smarter, dug in, slowed it down and just spoiled for 2-3 rounds to try to get his head straight. Maybe he could've got back into it from there, you saw the power was still there right at the death.

Instead he kept trying to trade and was eating jabs for fun. He was never able to get a foothold in the fight,never looked comfortable at any point

All the credit to dubois, he never let up and threw really high quality shots throughout. Peach of a counter to finish. A great performance
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I think you have to factor in the build-up to this fight. Joshua was talking down to Dubois the whole time and gave him the fuel and motivation to do him in.

Joshua's attitude was always going to be that he'll "son" this kid and show him who's boss; he didn't treat him with the respect he deserved going into the fight, so there's no way he was going to do that in the ring. Story as old as time; hubris being the downfall of a fighter, but Joshua should know better... of all people, he should know better. Might even say serve him right for not taking his opponent seriously.
 
Surprised at all the media talk as if this was a surprise. I mean I know Aj won his last 4 fights but who did he really fight ? Was everyone asleep when Dubois fought Usyk and Hrgovic ?
 
Zen said:
Sky barely even mentioning that he should retire? Except that he'll push for the rematch.... crazy.
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Too much money can be made off the back of AJs name.

He might be done as a top level fighter, but he's still a big name in boxing
 
Steve Bruce said:
I don't listen to the crap after fights. What did he say?
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Kissing his ass pretty much. Before the fight was giving Dubois no chance. Then after the fight was still saying Dubois is the slower fighter and basically that AJ is the better fighter and got the approach wrong etc. Basically excuses. No hate towards AJ but you can’t watch that and still try to say AJ is a quicker, better fighter.

They mentioned AJ being silly trying to box tactically and slower but in reality Dubois didn’t give him much choice as he came straight out and went straight for him and Joshua just couldn’t keep up with it, he tried but the moment he actually went for it properly he was wide open and got knocked out.
 
Parma Dewol said:
That was savage, so much so that I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for AJ. He looked completely lost.

Some fighters have that natural savagery. With AJ, I’ve always got the impression, right or wrong, that he’s putting on a facade to suggest he’s enjoying it. Almost feels as though he’s a puppet and someone else is pulling the strings. The British Victor Drago.

With a sport as brutal as this, it’s no surprise a lot of fighters fall deep into the depths of depression and mental illness. I can see AJ going that way, and as much as he seems willing to put the game face back on, I hope his team don’t wheel him out for another pay day.

As for Dubois, wow. I’d never seen him fight before and he was so good from the moment the first bell rang. Even in the fifth, it seemed like he was willing to let AJ back in just enough to leave him exposed for the finish. And then bam. Can’t wait to see him fight again.
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Went off him years ago even before he had ever lost when he told everyone he was going to be boxing's first billionaire.

If he'd done it then fair enough but it sounded ludicrous even back then.
 
JP77 said:
Kissing his ass pretty much. Before the fight was giving Dubois no chance. Then after the fight was still saying Dubois is the slower fighter and basically that AJ is the better fighter and got the approach wrong etc. Basically excuses. No hate towards AJ but you can’t watch that and still try to say AJ is a quicker, better fighter.

They mentioned AJ being silly trying to box tactically and slower but in reality Dubois didn’t give him much choice as he came straight out and went straight for him and Joshua just couldn’t keep up with it, he tried but the moment he actually went for it properly he was wide open and got knocked out.
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There's no question that Dubois on the evidence of tonight is the faster fighter. DDD came out very quickly and took AJ by surprise and never let up. AJ wasn't and doesn't look capable of overcoming Dubois.

A 27 year old AJ vs DDD is a different story but right here right now, AJ is finished.
 
From another forum



Take a bow!

19 others had it AJ.. only Duke said Dubois
DUKE MCKENZIE (FORMER THREE-DIVISION TITLEHOLDER/TV ANALYST): DUBOIS TKO 10

“I liked this fight from the moment it was announced. My opinion is that AJ is a former champion looking for another bite of the cherry to become a three-time heavyweight world champion and join the elite boxers of the past who have managed this feat. There’s his incentive. Will it be enough to stop a young hungry fearless Dubois who isn’t given enough credit for his boxing IQ? I think AJ will bring out the best in Dubois, and we have seen the best of AJ who these days loses his shape badly once he unloads, whereas Dubois holds his shape a lot better. The much improved Dubois seems to be getting better, and I would expect to see marginal improvement going into this fight. I think with a lot more head and lateral movement from Dubois, his work rate will be too much for AJ, who will simply not be able to cope. Dubois wins inside 10 rounds TKO.”
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one of the most overrated fighters ever. Literally never beat anyone in their prime, heralded as a great at one point. Bang average boxer.
 
By no means a boxing expert but I kinda see AJ as the boxing equivalent of Rashford.

Just when you think he is back or 'it', he finds a way to fall and let you down. Ultimately overhyped through being British and circumstance, completely undeserving of the status given.
 
AJ was dominated from start to finish. Even then, I felt he could have won further down the stretch if he'd been more patient, he went all in far too soon and paid the price.
 
To launch something of a defence of AJ, he did get caught by one huge wild swing and that totally changed the whole fight... He avoids that and it plays out very different.

With the mood Dubois was in he probably still wins, but it may not have been the complete blow out we saw.
 
Great to see Joshua lose, don’t like the guy as a person after his in ring rant after losing to Usyk.

Dubois had the right tactics and performed fantastically well tonight and deserved the win. Whether or not it was a wild swing or not that caught him, AJ didn’t defend himself properly from the start. Maybe underestimated his punching power and speed the way he kept his hands low.

I thought Joshua would have walked the fight and was shocked at the result, after seeing how Dubois remained calm after knocking AJ down and stayed patient to claim the win said a lot about the guy.

Rematch clause I heard at the end of the fight so will probably be the next match up for both guys. Failing that AJ might turn to Chisora or Whyte
 
Never celebrated a knock out so much. Dubois was fantastic tonight, he did everything needed to beat AJ and more. Right off the bat he had him fighting on the back foot. Every time AJ has been forced there he's looked thoroughly ordinary. But Dubois looked great doing it too, his speed was too much for him, his power was too much for him, and dare I say it, he looked the more intelligent fighter. After all the stupid talk about how AJ is suddenly more of a "boxer" than a puncher. Glad that bollocks has been well and truly out to bed and all the fan boys have been put back in their place.

The irony of the fight is that the punch everyone was saying was the key for AJ, was actually the key for Dubois.

Good night AJ, it's been a pleasure.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
To launch something of a defence of AJ, he did get caught by one huge wild swing and that totally changed the whole fight... He avoids that and it plays out very different.

With the mood Dubois was in he probably still wins, but it may not have been the complete blow out we saw.
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This is boxing and that punch was on all night. Not only that, he was out thrown by a big margin, and Dubois was looking far better behind the jab also. I don't even see how you make a case for him had that punch not landed, as it was there for the taking the whole fight.
 
I just go back to that round the table discussion where Dubois said to AJ, “let’s go now” and AJ started throwing his respect toys out of the pram. Oh how silly he looks now. Him saying that he could kick off in the ring in the post fight interview, he was about 5 rounds too late in that idle threat.

His arse got handed to him tonight and Dubois looked razor sharp. AJ’s only fight I can see left is against Fury, on the proviso that Fury doesn’t beat Usyk in his rematch.
 
lilcurt said:
By no means a boxing expert but I kinda see AJ as the boxing equivalent of Rashford.

Just when you think he is back or 'it', he finds a way to fall and let you down. Ultimately overhyped through being British and circumstance, completely undeserving of the status given.
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Well done quite an achievement to find a way to hate on Rashford while watching a heavyweight boxing match
 
Very impressed with Dubois, he really has improved since the Usyk fight, more patient, using his jap more effectively and setting traps. Until his recent fights he was more brawling. Ironically he’s a far more destructive heavyweight because of that. AJ hasn’t been the same boxer since he lost to Ruiz and that was years ago now.
 
lsd said:
They're have been some poor World Heavyweight champions in the last ten years but AJ for new has been far the worst. Surely that's three last we see of him. Bruno was better
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Bollox
I'm no AJ fan but Ruiz, Stiverne, Wilder and Parker are worse than him. His record is equal to Fury's.
Only Usyk and now Dubois can be held above him.
 
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Anyway, there’s only one boxer going to dominate heavyweight boxing, if not all of boxing, for quite a while and probably in the not too distant future.

 
I am not a big fan of AJ. I have always seen him as a great athlete who boxes, rather than a great boxer, but he deserves some credit for that.

The more I watch it, the more I can’t believe that he got up and continued after that first shot. He is clearly out of it, but it would be unfair to question his desire after that. It’s an absolutely massive shot.
 
AJ has done an awful lot for British boxing, perhaps more than any other boxer.

He has never really got the credit he deserved for beating Wlad. He was inexperienced at that stage and I just felt that Wlad was going to use that fight to announce himself again. Kitschko was by that stage fairly old, but it was clear he had put so much into his camp and looked fantastic, imo better than he looked against Fury. AJ, on the other hand, was very young to be fighting a boxer of Kitschko's experience and pedigree.

That raw version might just have been peak AJ, even though he became a two time champ and deserves a lot of credit for that.

Povetkin should also count as an impressive defence. Probably did better than expected versus Usyk, but still came up short due to a weak left jab.

Tonight, it wasn't good at all for him. He got sucked into a toe to toe slugfest, which was clearly Dubois' plan, landing the first big punch. It kind of played on his ego a bit and was a simple but smart move.
 
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Having watched the full fight, Joshua fighting with hands down like he's Tommy Hearns against a super heavy-handed man was absolutely ridiculous.

He's not got the ability to do that and this is the heaviest puncher he's ever faced. If that was tactical, it was a road to failure. I'd like to think shell shock got the better of him.

An aggressive Dubois is a massive problem because it negates his terrible head movement and plays to his strengths, and in a fire fight he presents a threat those above want no part of.

He was robbed against Usyk last time and Fury no longer has the reflexes to evade him for 12 rounds. I think both will duck him for as long as possible.
 


He's been digging out Joshua for a long time and he can't hide his delight. Better make sure he's nowhere where Joshua is.
 
Dubois was extremely classy in victory. Even in the ring, for the best sporting moment of his life, he didn't laud it over an opponent who had being trying to belittle him in the build up. He even went to check on him before celebrating.
 
FriedClams said:
one of the most overrated fighters ever. Literally never beat anyone in their prime, heralded as a great at one point. Bang average boxer.
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Aye, biggest win of his career was scraping past 41 year-old Wlad at Wembley. 2 years out the ring for Wlad at the time after Fury had breezed past him in Germany which is notorious for giving dodgy decisons to the home promoters fighters.
 
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Rams said:
Anyway, there’s only one boxer going to dominate heavyweight boxing, if not all of boxing, for quite a while and probably in the not too distant future.

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He's certainly on the right path but has a way to go yet.
 
Wlad vs AJ is one of my best ever fights it had everything but AJ’s career has been downhill since that fight and ultimately a disappointment

I fear he won’t retire and will go out with 7-8 losses on his record
 
The only big win on AJ's resume is Wlad and he was finished by then. He is easily the most overrated boxer of his time.
 
Fortitude said:
Dubois was extremely classy in victory. Even in the ring, for the best sporting moment of his life, he didn't laud it over an opponent who had being trying to belittle him in the build up. He even went to check on him before celebrating.
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Very much this

Sportsmanship personified, Well done Dubois, great respect

Not an AJ fan, nor an AJ hater either, but all those saying he’s finished, there will be a rematch wether you think there should be or not.

The outcome of that rematch will decide wether AJ hangs his Gloves up and sails into the sunset with his £100 million in the bank laughing at those saying “he’s finished”, not a bad way too finish minted beyond comprehension, or wether he goes on too win rematch setting up the big money ball Fury Usyk trio, if that happens then I feel boxing has become scripted like wrestling
 
Castia said:
Wlad vs AJ is one of my best ever fights it had everything but AJ’s career has been downhill since that fight and ultimately a disappointment

I fear he won’t retire and will go out with 7-8 losses on his record
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That's a wild take. AJ fought almost nothing but title defences up until his second loss to Usyk. After Vlad, he beat Parker, Povetkin, Ruiz, Takam and Pulev.

The loss last night will be a bad look if he doesn't avenge it, but to call his career a disappointment is ridiculous
 
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