Usyk vs Dubois 2: How the styles will gel in Wembley rematch

Daniel Dubois and Oleksandr Usyk will have a rematch at Wembley Stadium, in a classic orthodox versus southpaw fight for the undisputed heavyweight world championship. James Hicken breaks down the style match-up

A tale as old as boxing itself – orthodox vs southpaw, left hand vs right hand…Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois.

It’s a puzzle that has yet to find a permanent solution, as the game evolves, so do the fighters. When Usyk and Dubois come face-to-face on Saturday night, this difference in stance will be at the forefront of the minds of both men, who will be self-assured that they have cracked the code.

But what exactly does this fundamental difference in style look like? Where are the key areas that a fight can be won or lost, and how will they present themselves this weekend when the undisputed heavyweight title is on the line?

Subscribe to DAZN now to watch over 185 fights a year

​The lead hand

Generally speaking, a boxer takes his stance based on his dominant hand. If you are a right-handed person, you will be an orthodox fighter. This means your left will be your lead hand and will be where your jab comes from - for a southpaw, it’s the opposite.

This reveals a problem unique to the orthodox-southpaw puzzle. The lead hands of the fighters will constantly be battling for dominance.

Lead hand dominance requires that your lead hand is above that of your opponent, pushing it down towards their hip. This means the path for your jab to land is unobstructed, and your guard remains unbroken.

This is a key weapon in taking an early lead in a fight, as being the fighter who can regularly land the jab over your opponent’s lead hand increases the frequency of opportunities for combination attacks and scores easy points.

Oleksandr Usyk (left) and Daniel Dubois after a low-blow incident in their first fight (Getty Images)

Footwork

The battle of the feet is as essential as the battles of the hands. The front foot of the orthodox fighter will be directly opposite to that of the southpaw – rather than next to each other as we see in clashes of the same stance.

Naturally, they will be standing further away from each other, and the fighter who can effectively circumnavigate the lead foot of their opponent will be at an immediate advantage.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Getting your lead leg on the outside of your opponent opens up all the key target areas for heavy attacks. By passing with your lead foot, the path for the rear and more powerful hand is much more direct versus having to punch across yourself to hit the target if your foot is on the inside.

Exceptions to this rule do occur, but very few fighters find success firing up the inside of their opponents’ front foot. Manny Pacquiao was a great example of how it can be utilised as a rhythm breaker, but not consistently, as you are walking yourself into danger.

• Watch Usyk versus Dubois 2 live and exclusive on DAZN PPV this Saturday - July 19 - Buy the PPV now here.

Watch Usyk vs Dubois 2 live on DAZN (DAZN)

Movement

The final piece of the puzzle is how the fighters use their movement, body and head to stay out of the firing line or avoid presenting a stationary target.

For an orthodox fighter, bigger adjustments will have to be made as fighting a southpaw is much more rare than fighting another orthodox fighter.

Traditionally, orthodox fighters are schooled to circle to their left towards the lead hand of their opponent as this minimises the angles of attack and maximises the distance to the opponent’s more powerful rear hand.

Against a southpaw, an orthodox fighter will have to fight against all their instincts and circle to the right to achieve the same effect.

What does this mean for Usyk vs Dubois 2?

Dubois is not only facing a southpaw but one of the best left-handed operators the sport has ever seen.

He has the benefit of having faced him before, but it will be only his third fight against a southpaw in his career.

In their first meeting, Dubois made almost every mistake there was to make against a southpaw.

The Brit immediately lost the battle of the lead hand with Usyk not only firing off the jab over the top, but the Ukrainian was able to land the jab underneath or on the inside of Dubois’s lead hand – total dominance.

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

Dubois also made no effort to assert himself with his feet either. Every time the two entered range, it was Usyk who had his foot on the outside and was landing the much more effective work.

For the rematch, these are essential adjustments Dubois will need to make. The jab is a massive asset for Dubois, and Usyk completely nullified it in their first fight. He will need to find a way to assert his lead hand before the unified champion.

The body is a weakness that has been well known about Usyk since his amateur days, but no one has been able to exploit it yet. If Dubois can adjust his feet and find the outside, the body of the Ukrainian will become a much bigger target, and the devastating power that Dubois holds in his right hand will have a direct line to the chin of Usyk.

For Usyk, it seems to be a case of the same again. He was so masterful in his control of all the essential aspects of an orthodox vs southpaw battle, only finding trouble through a Dubois low blow.

Usyk should be expecting Dubois to come out more aggressively this time around, but if he fights with uneducated aggression, it will be easy for Usyk to step off to his right and exploit new angles of attack presented by an off-balance Dubois - something he did very well in the first fight.

Usyk vs Dubois 2 only on DAZN

Watch Usyk versus Dubois 2 live and exclusive on DAZN PPV this Saturday - July 19 - for £24.99 UK; $59.99 US; $19.99/equivalent ROW. Buy the PPV now here.