Protected. Cotton wrapped. Hasn't fought a puncher since Wlad. Trying to be a boxer when he's not a boxer. Dubious fights to his strengths and won with it. AJ was fighting in his head and got chinned.
I wouldn't mind seeing Dubois vs Zhang. Zhang is at an age where he needs to match-make carefully. He needs someone that will trade. A runner can beat beat him. AJ would be able to run and use the jab.
An absolute bum Usyk is the best on the planet followed by Fury Then you have DDD and Parker Aj just a glorified bodybuilder who has beeb carefully matched since ruiz
Usyk broke him mentally and he's never really recovered from it. All the experience he's had going into that fight and he looked like a deer in the head lights even before the bell rung. He seriously needs to think about quitting soon, maybe cash out vs Wilder now and then retire. Mentally he doesn't look right, all the clowning at the end, sticking his tongue out, talking to people ring side, he did none of that when in the trenches with Wlad, he was simply focused on winning not thinking about how bad he looked and trying to hide it. But credit to Dubois, he's improving with every fight, suddenly learning to counter out of nowhere.
His problem is trying to be a master boxer which he isn't. The best boxing case scenario for AJ would have been to become a robot like Wlad using size....but robot Wlad didn't have young fiesty punchers like Dubious who are equally as big to knock him over. So he might as well default and fight on natural instincts which are POOR.
Dubois/Zhang could be fun true, two big hitters with decent chins, could be a real slugfest. Dubois/Parker too could be fun or Dubois/Bakole.
Not saying it would have made a difference but AJ rocked up to the fight late, he should have got there the same time as dubois and warmed up properly, that aside he looks like a stiff robot and rightfully lost. That was embarraaaassing
Or did Ruiz break him mentally and Usyk beat a mentally broken AJ? Really it's that AJ just lost to a very aggressive powerful fighter (who is nothing special). AJ has no chin and his style of hands down was awful against Dubois. It was clear.
He rocked up late because he doesn't want to sit in the changing rooms with nervous energy draining him....he can't win either way. His fighting instincts aren't fully there.
AJ has done nothing relevant for many years and was getting undeserved hype for beating weak opposition. He came up against a young, hungry fighter with power and had absolutely no answers to what was in front of him. Everyone looks good until the fight someone that hits back.