Daniel Dubois disrespected Oleksandr Usyk and must make tough decisions for boxing comeback

The inquest that matters is the one Daniel Dubois convenes with himself. I’m not surprised his promoter Frank Warren wants answers into what happened around the defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.

A party, or gathering as his trainer Don Charles called it, on the day of the fight is ridiculous and is reason enough for Dubois to make changes. The influence of his father is key here. The positive input of parents is vital if kids are to flourish in sport, but their influence obviously wanes as athletes develop.

Dubois is an elite athlete. He no longer needs his father to be guiding every aspect of his fighting life. There has to be a degree of independence. You are on your own in the ring at the end of the day. You take the blows.

It is understood the same gathering that took place before the Usyk fight also happened before the Anthony Joshua fight.

Ye Gods. Dubois went for a drive during the party to get some peace. You need calm at that point to relax and charge the batteries. One thing it showed was complete and utter disrespect for Usyk.

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They underestimated him. They were overconfident, full of the win over Joshua. Such arrogance. And then there was the ticketing issue with some of his party.

Getting people inside the arena is not a problem the camp needs to be solving at that point. Apparently he did not know some of them.

You need to keep it simple. Come in to the arena quietly, after a low key period of rest. Go through your warm-up. Be ready. The only people you need with you at that stage is your immediate team.

Forget all the stuff about quitting. People who say that never took a punch in their lives. The shots that landed were good punches.

He was firing back but Usyk leaned back on his haunches, missed twice and then whipped over that southpaw, backhand left, a long hook. He was completely stunned. He was stopped in the first fight, too and would have had shot memory from that.

He tried to get up, but couldn’t quite manage it. But it was those preparations that really hurt him. He looked nervous, like he didn’t believe in himself. Usyk would have picked that up the moment he locked eyes on him.

People will see him as vulnerable now. His shot resistance isn’t great but he is not a quitter. And he’s still only 27. But to comeback in a meaningful way he needs to take some time, look at every aspect of his professional life and make some tough decisions.

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