The key weapon Daniel Dubois must use better in Oleksandr Usyk rematch

Daniel Dubois will head into his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk having fallen short the first time around, but if he can utilise this one weapon more effectively, he might just become undisputed heavyweight champion, James Hicken writes.

Oleksandr Usyk (left) and Daniel Dubois during their 2023 clash (Getty Images)

The jab is the simplest and most effective weapon in the arsenal of any fighter. It is both an offensive and defensive tool - scoring points and serving as a placeholder for follow-up punches.

Whilst Daniel Dubois is known for his concussive power, his jab is an underrated asset that he deploys to set up highlight reel knockouts.

However, in his first encounter with Oleksandr Usyk, it proved ineffective. But why was this the case, and are there any changes Dubois can make in the rematch this weekend to bring his jab back into play and claim the undisputed title?

Statistics gathered from the first Usyk vs Dubois fight and the next three fights of the Brit tell an interesting story.

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Activity level

Having an active jab is important both on the attack and on the back foot. It allows a fighter to break the rhythm of their opponent in retreat and force them into their defensive shape going forward.

In Wrocław in 2023, Dubois threw 163 jabs at an average of 18.1 per round. When compared to his following fights against Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic, it is easy to see that Dubois was not firing his jab off enough against Usyk.

In his next three fights, he averaged nearly 30 more jabs thrown at 192.3, which is a more impressive number when considering none of those fights went the distance.

Against a man like Usyk, having an inactive jab allows him to get into a rhythm and put his stamina and output advantages to work. Even if it isn’t always landing, a jab acts as a deterrent, especially one with the power of Dubois behind it.

His best-performing round for jab output against Usyk, round two, was still the lowest total of any of his following three fights with Miller, Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua.

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Daniel Dubois' average number of jabs landed per round against Usyk vs his next three opponents (Ready to Fight)

Accuracy

Dubois’ jab accuracy was one of his biggest failings in the first fight.

From his total of 163 jabs thrown, only 10 landed in the entire fight. That gives him 6.1 per cent accuracy rate.

For context, through his next three fights, he averaged 58.3 jabs landed at 23.8 per cent accuracy - almost a fourfold increase in accuracy percentage against Miller, Hrgovic and Joshua.

If you convert that into jabs landed per round against Usyk, it reveals a shocking 1.1 jabs hit the target for Dubois.

This perfectly exemplifies where it went wrong for Dubois. When the jab is failing to find the target, Dubois is stifled and cannot set up any of his work, which leaves him at sea, desperately trying to counterattack against a master technician in Usyk.

In the first fight, he tried to use his jab to close the distance to Usyk and follow up with a powerful right hand to the head or body. But when the jab does not land on the target, it forces Dubois to reset and try again, allowing Usyk to counterattack.

Daniel Dubois' average jab accuracy against Usyk vs his next three fights (Ready to Fight)

Who is responsible for the ineffective jab?

It would be easy to blame the man throwing the jab for its inefficiency, and against any other fighter, you might be right.

But with the benefit of being able to compare his performances, it shows us that it was Usyk who nullified the jab of Dubois.

Usyk used educated and varied pressure to force Dubois to miss. His smart defence incorporates in-and-out movement, a high guard, and plenty of lateral movement to never present a static target or come forward in a straight line.

If we compare this to Jarrell Miller, who also put the pressure on Dubois throughout the fight, we see that Dubois used his jab as a much more effective weapon.

Daniel Dubois in his stoppage loss to Oleksandr Usyk in August 2023 (Getty Images)

Miller’s pressure, in comparison to Usyk, was uneducated, plodding forward and following Dubois rather than cutting off the ring. This makes it exponentially easier to land a jab.

This shows in the stats. Dubois landed his jab with 46.2 per cent accuracy against Miller, having thrown almost double, compared to the aforementioned 6.1 per cent against Usyk.

Usyk’s ability to maintain his variety, output and movement at heavyweight is something a traditional heavyweight like Dubois is always going to struggle to adjust to.

It’s clear that Usyk won the battle of the jabs and was able to use his southpaw tricks to muzzle Dubois’ lead hand.

The Ukrainian threw 101 more jabs than Dubois and landed four times as many.

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What can Dubois do in the rematch?

The number one priority for Dubois in the rematch should be to slow the feet of Usyk. This was a major factor in his jab being ineffective.

Usyk operates out of a strong high guard, which he added to his game when he made his foray into the heavyweight division.

Dubois can use this to access the body by throwing a feint jab to the head to freeze his guard. He could then follow up with a spearing jab just above the protector of Usyk in the early goings, and the investment will pay dividends in the late rounds, slowing down the feet of the unified champion.

It is, of course, not quite as simple as that. Usyk will have a game plan of his own. But if Dubois can focus his early offence on the body, then he can look to capitalise as Usyk makes his adjustments through the middle rounds and land some heavy combinations behind his jab.

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