Daniel Dubois sure has come a heck of a long way since he was cruelly and unfairly labelled a “quitter” by too many people, by people who should have known a whole lot better. 27 year old Dubois also came a long way here in 2024, far enough for him to be more than worthy of picking up the Comeback Fighter of the Year gong.
It’s down to opinion, of course, as it is when handing an award to any fighter, for any reason. This is an especially fun time for boxing fans and for boxing writers, as the various awards and how they are dished out makes for interesting reading and even more interesting picking. You of course will have your opinion on who deserves to win the Fighter of the Year award, on who which fights deserves the FOTY trophy, on which KO deserves to be handed the KO of the Year bauble, and so on……
But in terms of Comeback Fighter of the Year, it’s tough to think of anyone more worthy than Daniel Dubois, AKA “Triple D.” Even if it could be argued that Dubois’ comeback success actually began a year ago, in December of 2023.
Dubois, who had put a whole lot right, in his own mind most importantly, with his late round stoppage win over a fiercely trash-talking Jarrell Miller a year ago, sure kept the momentum going here in 2024. The win over Miller came in Dubois’ first fight back after being stopped in nine by Oleksandr Usyk. Dropping Usyk with a “was it low, was it a legit body shot” early, Dubois was then dropped more than once and he had to hear the dreaded “quitter” tag once again as a result (Daniel first hearing it back in 2020, when a simply ghastly eye injury gave him no choice but to go down one knee in his losing fight with Joe Joyce).
Boy, did Dubois make his critics eat their words this year.
A stoppage win over an unbeaten Filip Hrgovic might have ranked quite proudly as any other heavyweight’s 12-month highlight, but Dubois, after his exciting win over Hrgovic, made a far more important, much bigger splash. Expected by nearly everyone to get stopped by former two-time heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua – who was coming off a thudding, put-him-back-in-his-place KO win over Francis Ngannou – Dubois instead destroyed Joshua.
It was pretty much all Dubois from the opening bell, this save for a desperate, roll the dice effort from a hurt, he’d been down four times AJ, who caught his rival countryman with a right hand in the fifth. But Dubois then made Joshua pay big time, this as he ruined him with a counter right that carried even more force. It was all over, with Joshua left in a position and a state we had never seen him in before, on his face on the mat, his senses obliterated.
What a three month spell Dubois, 22-2(21) had had.
Now, the reigning IBF heavyweight champ looks ahead to what he hopes will be a win over former WBO champ Joseph Parker in February. After that, who knows? Might Dubois prove to be The Fighter of the Year in 2025?
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