Anthony Joshua sounds dismissive of the threat that IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois poses for him and his career this Saturday in London.
AJ’s fans have been pumping him up with compliments and have convinced him that he’s going slice through Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) like Oleksandr Usyk did in August 2023. Unfortunately, Joshua is not that kind of talent to duplicate what Ushyk did.
Besides, Dubois was arguably robbed of a knockout in the fifth round after dropping Usyk with a body shot that the referee ruled was a low blow. Replays showed that it wasn’t low.
Joshua, 34, isn’t young enough and hasn’t faced the kind of competition in his last four fights to give him the cavalier attitude that he has about his title challenge against the 27-year-old Dubois.
Of the two, Daniel has looked better than Joshua in his last four fights and has faced far better competition. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has done him no favors by glazing him the way he has, because he should be making him understand what he’s up against in this fight.
Dubois ticks every box when picking out a fighter with all the ingredients to destroy Joshua and send him into his money fight against Tyson Fury on a bad note in 2025. If Dubois obliterates Joshua, his fight against Fury will be seen as two old codgers just looking to get one last payday at the public’s expense before hanging up the gloves.
“It’s another day for me. We’re going to do some media stuff. Spirits are good actually,” said Joshua to Matchroom Boxing. “I’ve prepared for this, so it’s not taking time out of my schedule. It fits in well. It’s another day, another lion in the jungle. It’s another lion ready to hunt. It’s just another day for me.”
Joshua is seriously deluded if he believes his fight against Dubois is just “another day” for him, because this is the most dangerous fighter he’s faced during his professional career.
Even Wladimir Klitschko wasn’t this kind of a threat to Joshua because AJ picked him out when he was 41 years old, coming off a long layoff and a loss to Tyson Fury. Dubois is not old, and if he hurts Joshua, he won’t let his foot off the gas. He’s going to finish AJ and put him in a difficult spot where he’ll need to either rematch him or slink into the Fury fight, looking like a washed-up has-been.
Undercard:
– Anthony Cacace vs. Josh Warrington
– Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Tyler Denny
– Josh Kelly vs. Ishmael Davis
– Joshua Buatsi vs. Wily Hutchinson
– Mark Chamberlain vs. Josh Padley
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