An announcement is anticipated this week on Wednesday for Anthony Joshua’s subsequent opponent on September twenty first at Wembley Stadium.
Daniel Dubois: The Frontrunner
It’s believed that Daniel Dubois, which implies the vacant IBF heavyweight title, will doubtless be out there for the battle between him and AJ.
Promoter Eddie Hearn had mentioned the IBF belt needed to be out there for the Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) contest for them to make use of him. Whether or not Hearn would nonetheless agree to make use of Dubois with out the IBF strap is unclear.
It’s a dangerous battle for the 34-year-old Joshua to be taking with no title being on the road, however he’s acquired to battle somebody the British followers would wish to see in massive numbers to have an opportunity of filling the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium. Utilizing Zhilei Zhang or Joseph Parker gained’t do it.
Dubois: A Younger and Highly effective Risk
Dubois, 26, has the ability and the youth to defeat Joshua. Furthermore, Dubois has fought higher opposition than Joshua has recently, significantly better.
Hearn has been feeding Joshua fringe contenders in his final 4 fights and refurbishing him after his back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk. The second defeat noticed Joshua mentally meltdown afterward, performing like he had a screw free.
You’ll be able to’t blame Hearn for matching Joshua in opposition to 4 consecutive lesser fighters after watching him virtually go postal contained in the ring.
On the identical time, it’s disingenuous to say that his coach, Ben Davison, has rebuilt him like new, turning him into a greater fighter than he ever was, as a result of there is no such thing as a proof to help that declare.
The 4 lesser fighters that Joshua beat have been fighters he would have creamed even earlier than he turned professional. As an novice from 2010, Joshua would have crushed the 4 guys he was lately matched in opposition to.
Joshua’s final 4 fights have been in opposition to a former UFC fighter with one bout below his belt and three journeymen. Hearn matched Joshua as weak as potential to rebuild him mentally and get the followers to consider in him once more.
Skilled Predictions
“Can Daniel Dubois beat Anthony Joshua? The reply is, after all, he can. I don’t suppose he’ll, personally. We’ve seen in Daniel Dubois’ final couple of fights that he can dig deep. He can take a smack, his engine appears good, and his confidence is there,” mentioned net host Ade Oladipo on his YouTube channel.
Whether or not Dubois can win comes all the way down to this: If he can take Joshua’s energy, he’ll knock him out if AJ involves battle. Joshua can’t take Dubois’ massive energy pictures or deal with his strain for twelve rounds with out imploding like he did in opposition to Andy Ruiz.
The one method Joshua can win this battle with out scoring a knockout is that if he adopts the identical Wladimir Klitschko security first fashion he used for his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019. If AJ fights with that fashion, he can probably final twelve rounds if he doesn’t get drained or caught in opposition to the ropes by Dubois.
“The power has all the time been there. You knew he was a superb boxer,” mentioned Ade. “The one query has been this quitting factor and his mindset. Beneath Don Charles, he appears to have improved each of these features.”
Dubois seems to have modified mentally since his loss to Usyk in 2023 and has change into harder.
The pictures that Dubois was stopped by in opposition to Usyk have been weak in comparison with those he absorbed in his final two fights in opposition to Filip Hrgovic and Jarrell Miller. Each guys hit Dubois quite a bit, however he walked via them to put on them down together with his personal laborious punches to attain a pair of knockouts.
“We nonetheless noticed it within the Oleksandr Usyk battle below Don Charles, and there was occasions within the Jarrell Miller battle the place you felt, ‘That is getting a bit nasty,’ however he discovered one thing, and he definitely discovered one thing in opposition to Filip Hrgovic,” mentioned Ade.
“So, he’s getting method higher. You’ll be able to argue as properly. You have a look at who he has fought in his final three, and also you have a look at who AJ has fought in his final three. He’s simply fought the higher opposition. There’s no argument. That’s simply reality. Hrgovic, Jarrell Miller and Usyk. You have a look at AJ, and he’s fought Ngannou, Wallin, Helenius [and Jermaine Franklin].”
There’s no comparability between the opposition Dubois has fought in his final three fights and who Joshua has fought, however he’s not been deliberately matched softly the way in which AJ has.
Hearn had a serious venture after Joshua’s second defeat in opposition to Usyk, and he was simply attempting to salvage his profession. He’s executed an admirable job at that, with no need to match Joshua in opposition to a superb opponent.
“Dubois proper now could be scorching. The rationale why I don’t suppose he can beat AJ is as a result of in opposition to Hrgovic, Hrgovic couldn’t miss with these one-twos,” mentioned Ade.
