IBF heavyweight champion, Daniel Dubois, and former two-time unified champion, Anthony Joshua, are entering their final few days of serious training before they begin tapering down and focusing on their fight at Wembley Stadium on September 21st.
Dubois’ promoter, Frank Warren, is all too aware that anything can happen in the crucial days and hours before a major fight but he believes that as the night draws closer, it will be Joshua who begins to feel the weight of expectation.
“It’s a cracking fight and it’s got a great undercard. It’s doing unbelievable business and it’s an exciting fight,” the Hall of Fame promoter told BoxingScene.
“For me, the pressure’s all on AJ. I don’t think the pressure’s on my man.”
Dubois, 21-2 (20 KOs), and Joshua, 28-3 (25 KOs), have both been forced to answer questions regarding the sturdiness of both their chins and self-confidence during the course of their careers but, over the past few months, both have provided plenty of evidence that they are entering the all-British showdown in prime physical and mental condition.
Last December, Dubois got his career back on track by bullying the bully and stopping Jarrell Miller in the final round of a make or break fight and then walked down and beat up the previously undefeated Filip Hrgovic. The eighth round stoppage saw him crowned as the interim IBF heavyweight champion, a title that was upgraded when Oleksandr Usyk, vacated the full title.
For his part, Joshua dissected Otto Wallin, forcing the reluctant Swede to retire after five one sided rounds, and followed that up by decimating Francis Ngannou, knocking out the MMA superstar – who extended a half-cocked Tyson Fury the distance last October – in two brutal rounds.
The fight looks likely to be fought amid that uniquely tense atmosphere that only significant heavyweight contests can generate. Both fighters possess the power and finishing ability to end the fight in a split second but both have also spent months rebuilding shattered confidence. The first fighter to be punished for a mistake or feel the weight of a heavy shot could be quickly revisited by those old demons.
Warren believes that Dubois’ level of opposition and the self-belief that surviving a series of flush right hands from Hrgovic generated could be crucial to the outcome.
“I look at it two ways. First of all, Wallin didn’t want to be in there. Ngannou, he [Joshua] smelled him out and did what he had to do and he done it in style,” Warren said.
“He’s not been in with any quality and he hasn’t taken what I would call a solid punch, that’s definite. I want him to come out and throw those right hands at my man because that’s where he is vulnerable.
“He gets countered easy. And I’ll tell you something, that will be the telling point. Whoever gets clipped, how they react to it.
“Not to be knocked out, but the first solid punch that lands. How do they react to it? I think Joshua will go on the back foot if he gets caught and if he goes on the back foot, that’s my man’s fight.”
John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79
Read the full article here
