Daniel Dubois doesn’t understand where Anthony Joshua is coming from, complaining about how he disrespected him during their face-to-face interview to promote their September 21st fight at Wembley Stadium in London.
Joshua’s Insecurity on Full Display
Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) got upset during the interview when IBF heavyweight champion Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) responded to a question about how he can’t wait to start fighting. He obviously wanted Dubois to act in a submissive, meek way to exert his authority over him like he was his boss.
AJ threatened Dubois by saying he would attack him with a chair when he failed to give him the respect that he wanted. The 26-year-old Dubois looked like he was going to smash Joshua. Dubois wasn’t playing around.
If Joshua had moved for the chair to throw it, he would have instantly regretted it. You could see the worry on Joshua’s face at the moment. He’s not confident going into this fight, knowing what he’s going up against and what he stands to lose if he gets knocked out.
The Fake Gold Medalist
“Disrespect is not the right word, is it? We’re in boxing. Is there respect in that ring? This is a fight. If you want respect go and become a doctor,” said Daniel Dubois to Queensberry about Anthony Joshua discussing being disrespected by him during their face-to-face interview.
Joshua clearly lacks confidence in this late stage of his career and is trying every trick in the book to gain a mental edge against Dubois. Whatever confidence Joshua once had after turning pro in 2013, he has been beaten out of him by Oleksandr Usyk, Andy Ruiz, and Wladimir Klitschko.
I doubt that Joshua truly believed in himself after being gifted a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics when the judges gave him a controversial victory over Italy’s Roberto Cammarelle.
Joshua clearly lost that fight, and he has to be well aware of that. Starting his pro career as a fake gold medalist had to have done something to Joshua, and then getting worked over by Wladimir and Ruiz didn’t help.
“This is the fight game. I’m 100% ready to go out and fight. It’s getting closer [18 days]. I’m on the home run [to get to the Joshua fight on September 21st],” said Dubois.
“I’m a world champion now, and I’ve got to hold onto that belt. Yeah, I won it in that fight. That was a world title fight [against Filip Hrgovic on June 1st], and I won it,” said Dubois when asked if he feels like a world champion. “I’m a legitimate world champion. So, put some respect on my name.
A Dog Fight in The Making
If Joshua had gotten Dubois in that role during their initial interactions, he could have used that to help him win their fight. Insecure fighters use this tactic to gain an advantage in fights they’re not sure they can win. It’s kind of pathetic, but it shows you where Joshua is at now in this late stage of his career..
“I need to beat AJ and the next three good opponents. I need to beat them all. I’m not overthinking anything. It’s a fight, and this is our profession. Get the tools sharpened and just flow. Of course, I’ve fought better opposition [than Joshua], and it’s good for me.
“It’s good momentum and building toughness. Showing I can go the distance and still have the power in the later rounds and go in there, dig it out, and have a dogfight. So, it’s good.
“I had to make it a dog fight and make it rough and painful. I broke his spirit and move on to the next now,” said Dubois about his fight with Hrgovic. “I just have to be one track single-mind.”
Hrgovic melted almost immediately from the pressure that Dubois put him under, and he was a physical wreck by the eighty round when the fight was halted. The shots that Hrgovic took from Dubois in that fight would have knocked Joshua out many times over.
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