Promoter Eddie Hearn says Daniel Dubois, the new IBF interim heavyweight champion, could be next for Anthony Joshua to fight in September at Wembley after Dubois’ eighth-round technical knockout of Filip Hrgovic on Saturday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.
Hearn’s Meeting with Turki Alalshikh
Hearn states that he will speak with His Excellency Turki Alalshikh tonight about Joshua potentially fighting Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) next. This week, Hearn said that Joshua would fight either the winner of the Dubois vs. Hrgovic fight or Deontay Wilder next.
Wilder is now out of the running for AJ’s next fight after his fifth-round knockout loss to Zhilei Zhang, which leaves Dubois. Hearn didn’t mention the 41-year-old Zhang because he’s likely not a big enough name to sell tickets against Joshua at Wembley.
It’s going to be risky for the 34-year-old Joshua to fight the 26-year-old Dubois, considering his self-confidence is high right now, and he’s a lot younger and with less mileage on him. As we saw tonight and in Dubois’ previous contest against Jarrell Miller, he can punch, and his power is obviously top-notch.
If Joshua gets in a war with Dubois, he might not be able to handle the kinds of shots that he’s getting to be getting hit with. Those punches that Dubois landed on Hrgovic tonight would be hard for Joshua to take without folding.
Hearn’s Enthusiasm for the Potential Fight
“Possibly. I’ve got to go talk to His Excellency now for a meeting, and there’s a very good chance that will be the fight,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Charlie Parson’s YouTube channel when asked if Anthony Joshua will be fighting newly crowned IBF interim heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois next in September following ‘Dynamite’ Daniel’s eighth round TKO win over Filip Hrgovic tonight.
Joshua needs to factor in the money he can make fighting the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk 2 rematch before agreeing to a risky fight against Dubois that he doesn’t need to.
With a fight against Fury-Usyk II guaranteed, Joshua can sit and wait to fight the winner. That makes more sense than taking on the young lion Dubois, who is a needless risk. If Joshua does choose to fight, he would be better off taking a soft target in a stay-busy type of match.
“It’s a great fight. I thought Daniel was excellent tonight. Filip Hrgovic hit him with the kitchen sink in the first three or four rounds,” said Hearn about Joshua fighting Dubois. “He showed a lot of heart; he showed a lot of grit, and once he kept on believing in himself, he got better and better.
“Shout out to Daniel Dubois. It was a great victory, and we’ll see what’s next,” said Hearn.
I would be surprised if Joshua takes the fight with Dubois next because Hearn knows what would be at stake if he put AJ in with this young fighter, who might do the same thing to him that he did against the 31-year-old Hrgovic.
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