Former Sky host Adam Smith says he’s seen Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois spar in the past at Team GB and was impressed with what he saw.
Smith points out that as good as he’s looked lately, Joshua has not fought anyone on the level of Dubois.
Joshua’s Recent Success
– Francis Ngannou
– Otto Wallin
– Robert Helenius
– Jermaine Franklin
Those opponents were designed to boost Joshua mentally and to convince the boxing public that he’s turned things around with his career following his two consecutive defeats against Oleksandr Usyk.
While Joshua’s trainer, Ben Davison, has been praised for supposedly turning his career around since coming on board, the truth is that AJ would have beaten his last four opponents under ANY of his old coaches or training himself.
Joshua didn’t need a coach to beat the last four guys with whom his promoter, Eddie Hearn, lined him up. Interestingly, fans are gassing up Joshua about his recent four victories, saying he’s rejuvenated, but he hasn’t fought anyone since his meltdown against Usyk in 2022.
If it happens, AJ’s fight with Dubois in September will be his first true test, and it might not go well for Joshua.
Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs), the IBF interim heavyweight champion, is negotiating to face Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) on September 21st at Wembley Stadium in London.
AJ, 34, will be the favorite, of course, but as we saw last weekend, Dubois is looking hard to beat right now, and he might have too much for the aging former two-time heavyweight champion.
Sparring Days Are Over: Dubois Has Evolved
The spars between Joshua and Dubois were long ago, and Daniel is now nearing his prime at 26, coming off his best career victory with an eighth-round knockout of Filip Hrgovic last Saturday night in Riyadh.
It would be tough for Joshua fans to watch their hero get brought down to earth by Dubois. Still, he’s not the young fighter he once was a decade ago when he first signed with promoter Eddie Hearn and skillfully managed to capture a world title by being matched against Charles Martin.
“He was against a specimen in Filip Hrgovic. Maybe not as good as Joshua, but Daniel is going to have to come up with a game plan. Remember, [Dubois’ trainer] spent a lot of time with Anthony at the beginning of his career,” said Adam Smith to Pro Boxing Fans about what Daniel Dubois will need to do for him to beat Anthony Joshua on September 21st at Wembley Stadium.
Dubois’s game plan against Filip Hrgovic will work just fine against Joshua, who has had problems dealing with pressure and a fast pace throughout his career.
Joshua is a fighter who needs slow-paced fights to excel, and he does not perform well when he’s forced into a fast-paced fight. You can blame that on Joshua’s body-building frame. It’s difficult for bodybuilders to move all that muscle around without fading quickly.
Can Joshua Handle a Fast Pace?
“They’ll have their plans and ways of doing it,” said Smith. “What I like is Daniel is in a great physical state at the moment, and right here [in Dubois’ head], he’s strong, and he’s maturing, and he’s got the backing of Frank Warren.”
If Dubois jumps on Joshua from round one, forcing him into a war and not letting him rest, this fight could be over by the fourth round. Joshua’s cardiovascular system is even worse than Hrgovic’s, and he doesn’t possess the same chin as him. AJ will not be able to take the big shots from Dubois that Hrgovic did without folding up.
“AJ, of course, with Matchroom, and that rivalry will go again if the two meet in September at Wembley,” said Smith. “I think Daniel will need to think back to those spars and think how he can get to Joshua. Joshua does look good now, beautifully executing his jab, which is his powerful weapon.
“Daniel is going to have to find a way of dealing with that, but Joshua has really only beaten Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou [in coming back from his two losses to Oleksandr Usyk]. The way he did it was perfect.”
Smith makes a good point by mentioning Joshua’s recent opponents, Wallin and Ngannou. He doesn’t include the other two lower-level fighters Joshua has beaten, Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius. Those guys are not world-class fighters and nowhere near the level of Dubois.
You have to hand it to the promoter, Eddie Hearn, for matching Joshua against those guys to make him look good and then pumping him up to the casuals to give them the impression that he’s beating the creme de cream. The fans haven’t even questioned Hearn about the cans he’s feeding Joshua.
“The manner of victory was massively impressive, but it wasn’t a Daniel Dubois in front of him,” said Smith. “It was Otto Wallin, who is not in that class, and Francis Ngannou, who was having his second professional boxing fight. So, as brilliant as AJ looked and as great of a tie-up with [trainer] Ben Davison is, I think it’s a really impressive one.”
Wallin looked like he hadn’t even trained for the fight, and was easy pickings for Joshua to bowl over in their fight last December. The former UFC champion Ngannou, 37, was fighting just his second professional boxing fight after losing his previous one against an out-of-shape 277-lb Tyson Fury. It was just smoke and mirrors with Joshua.
Dubois’ Guts, Courage, and Will to Win
“We know that Daniel Dubois has shown guts, courage, and a will to win, and it’s going to be a fascinating one,” said Smith.
It might be fascinating, but the fight could be enlightening, showing that Joshua has NOT improved since his back-to-back losses to Usyk.
The only thing that’s changed was Hearn backing him off from fighting world-level competition and feeding him four tomato cans to boost him mentally and give the fans the impression that he’s turned his career around.
If Joshua loses to Dubois, as I believe he will, we’ll see which direction Hearn takes him. I think he’ll put him back on the tomato-can circuit with another rebuilding to get fans believing in him again.
Read the full article here
