IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois and challenger Anthony Joshua made the Grand Arrivals today for their headliner clash this Saturday night, live on DAZN PPV. Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) and Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) will fight at Wembley Stadium in London in front of 96,000 fans.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
AJ is the favorite in the fight, but that means nothing becaue he’s older and fighting a guy that is firing on all cylinders in Dubois. Whatever positive things Joshua did in the distant past mean zero for this fight because he’s fighting a younger guy with a young Mike Tyson aura about him.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, questions whether the 27-year-old Dubois will be intimidated by the moment, given that he’s never been on the big stage like this.
Hearn hopes that Dubois will be unnerved by the crowd because it would be bad for him if he beats Joshua. That would be the second Matchroom fighter that Dubois has beaten in a row.
Last June, Dubois stopped Hearn’s fighter, Filip Hrgovic, in the eighth round in Riyadh in an upset. There could be some bitterness there for Hearn because he’d been hoping that Hrgovic would be the one that Joshua challenged for the IBF title.
That would have left him with only his hands on the promotion controls instead of sharing it with Frank Warren’s Queensberry.
Grand Arrival Quotes:
Daniel Dubois: “I Can’t wait for it. It’s my time. I can’t wait. You guys are going to see that this is my time. I’m the man. I need to go out there and legitimize it. I’m the champ.”
Anthony Joshua: “I haven’t always been on the red carpet. I always understand now I’m on the red carpet, how to treat people. I’m never going to turn my nose up at people. That’s just not my style.”
Eddie Hearn: “Most people believe AJ is the favorite in the fight, but Daniel is a very live underdog. He’s dangerous, he punches very hard. It will be interesting to see how he can deal with the occasion.”
This is a very dangerous fight for Joshua. Hearn hasn’t said what his plan is if he loses to Dubois on Saturday, but it will be interesting to see what direction he takes if he gets beaten. In the past, Hearn had no problems making immediate rematches with Andy Ruiz Jr. and Oleksandr Usyk after Joshua lost to both guys.
Hearn might not take the same approach, given that His Excellency Turki Alalshikh says it doesn’t matter if AJ loses. He still would want to match him against Tyson Fury next.
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