Former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis says Anthony Joshua must make ‘drastic changes’ to be in with a shot of beating Daniel Dubois in a potential rematch.
Dubois retained his IBF world heavyweight title with a career-defining performance against AJ on September 21, flooring Joshua four times and delivering a knockout in the fifth round in front of a crowd of 98,000 fans.
Dubois is eager to face the winner of Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury next as it could see him fight for the undisputed crown, but, Turki Alalshikh has hinted at a potential rematch with Joshua instead.
Lewis praised Dubois for his ‘unbelievable performance’ in the first bout and offered his advice to Joshua – who was aiming to become a three-time world champion when he took on his fellow Brit at Wembley.
Lewis says AJ must ‘look deep within’ and ask himself ‘what does he really want’, before making some ‘drastic changes’ to his boxing style ahead of the potential rematch.
Speaking to Boxing News about Dubois victory over AJ, Lewis said: ‘Unbelievable performance by Daniel Dubois. I mean, he came out like a champ, he went to work and he threw an unbelievable right hand, which Anthony Joshua’s chin was in the way of, and knocked him down.’
Dubois was elevated from ‘interim’ to full IBF world champion in June after Usyk was forced to vacate the title to secure a rematch with Fury. However, Dubois proved he was a worthy champion during his bout with AJ.
Joshua was aiming to become a three-time world champion when he took on his fellow Brit at Wembley on September 21, but he was rocked in the opening round and failed to recover from there.
Dubois managed to knock AJ out inside five rounds to shock the world and establish himself as a true champion in his first title defence.
When asked how a rematch between AJ and Dubois would play out, Lewis said: ‘Well, it’s going to be kind of like the same thing.
‘Dubois is going to be coming after you and when he’s done that to you the first time, it’s going to be easier for him to do it to you the second time unless you make some drastic changes. If he’s going to do the rematch, he needs to make some drastic changes in his boxing.’
Lewis went on to reference his own experience against Hasim Rahman, explaining how he managed to avenge his shock loss to the African heavyweight with a blistering KO victory.
‘For me, it was easy because of how I lost. I lost with basically a one-punch type of thing. The guy threw a punch and my chin happened to be in the way of it. Before I left the fight, I already knew what I needed to do to win the rematch.
‘I had the rematch in my head before I left the ring. For Anthony Joshua going into a rematch, he has to look deep within himself and say, well, does he want it? Then he has to realise, well, what did he do wrong? And then go and right the wrongs, basically.’