Oleksandr Usyk believes Anthony Joshua had a major ‘problem’ with his footwork during his shock defeat to Daniel Dubois on Saturday night.
Dubois successfully defended his IBF heavyweight title in front of 96,000 people at Wembley as he demolished Joshua in five rounds.
Joshua was sent crashing to the canvas in all but one of the five rounds before Dubois ended the fight with a firm counter right hand.
The 34-year-old, who has now suffered four defeats in his professional career, struggled to get to grips with Dubois’ power although he momentarily wobbled his opponent in the fifth round, just moments before he got caught on the counter.
Usyk, who has beaten Joshua on two occasions, believes the biggest flaw in his defeat to Dubois was his poor movement in the ring.
Asked if he was shocked by Dubois beating Joshua, Usyk said after the fight: ‘Not shocked because it’s boxing. Daniel Dubois today was better.
‘Anthony had one problem because this position [leaning back] is dangerous – if you want to step back, do it like this [by moving your feet], not like this [leaning], this is dangerous.’
Usyk’s promoter, Alexander Krassyuk, also criticised Joshua over his poor defence against Dubois.
‘The footwork was the issue, the mentality was the issue, everything was the issue,’ Krassyuk said.
‘I thought I was seeing the man who had the face of AJ but who was completely different inside.
‘He didn’t look the way we expected him to look, did you see his right hand? It was all the way [down] on his right chest, so his chin was up.
‘It was a fairy tale for any boxer, not just for Dubois, for everyone.’
Elsewhere, three-time world heavyweight champion, Lennox Lewis, also agreed that Joshua’s lack of defence left him exposed to Dubois’ power.
‘The problem with that punch right there… he didn’t throw a jab first,’ Lewis told TNT Sports.
‘If he threw a jab first… nobody throws an uppercut against a dangerous fighter like that from a distance. That’s what he did, that’s the mistake he made.’
Lewis went on to add: ‘There’s a lot we can see about the fight that happened.
‘AJ did come out with his chin up a little bit, and I was like, ‘oh, he needs to put that chin down’, because against a right-handed boxer who has been throwing right hands and knocking people out all the time, that’s just like opening the door for him by keeping your chin up.
‘So I know Daniel Dubois was looking at that saying, ‘there’s that chin for me, let me throw that right hand’.’