Daniel Dubois intends to force Anthony Joshua into a “dog fight” on Saturday night, turning their clash into pure chaos. Dubois feels that his best chance of defeating the old King, Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs), is to make it a messy, fast-paced fight. Joshua has historically had problems with those types of fights.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
A fast-paced fight is Joshua’s kryptonite, and Dubois has the perfect style to capitalize on that weakness. Moreover, Joshua is an older fighter, and he’s vulnerable when forced to fight faster than his aging body can handle.
Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) will defend his IBF heavyweight title against the former two-time champion Joshua this Saturday, September 21st, at Wembley Stadium in London. The fight will be shown live on DAZN.
“That’s been expected because he’s been the King for a long time. Yeah, I expect that. Another upset on the cards,” said Daniel Dubois to TNT Sports Boxing, reacting to Anthony Joshua being the favorite for their fight on Saturday night.
Joshua is not a King at this point in his career. He’s more of a deposed King, having been between twice by Oleksandr Usyk and matched against peasants to try to recapture his lost crown.
Joshua is just a fighter living off his past accomplishments, but he hasn’t done anything spectacular in a long time. AJ’s last big win was against Andy Ruiz Jr. in December 2019. All of Joshua’s victories since then have come against these lesser fighters:
– Francis Ngannou
– Otto Wallin
– Robert Helenius
– Jermaine Franklin
– Kubrat Pulev
“He’s been at the top for a long time. I feel it’s my time to take that crown and hold onto that world title for a whole to earn some of what he’s earned to get some of the gold,” Dubois continued.
Even if Dubois beats Joshua, he’ll remain popular but be seen as a faded fighter. That’s essentially what AJ is at this point in his career. We’ve heard promoter Eddie Hearn banging on about how Joshua is new and improved, but that’s a bunch of junk. He’s not the fighter he was years ago and has lost a lot from his game since his second fight with Andy Ruiz Jr.
“Everything he brings, I need to shut it down and just take the fight to him to make it a dog fight. I think so. I thrive in chaos,” said Dubois when asked if a dog fight with Joshua would benefit him,” said Dubois.
It makes sense for Dubois to turn the fight into a fight that is pure chaos because Joshua is dangerous for slower fights, which allows him to set up his right-hand bombs. When Joshua was hurt in his fights with Wladimir Klitschko and Andy Ruiz, they were ones where the action was fast-paced.
“It’s hard to say, but I’m going to make him respect me on the night. Now, it’s time for war,” said Dubois.
The way Joshua has talked about Dubois, he doesn’t appear to have much respect for him as a fighter. He feels above him in talent and on the pecking order scale.
That kind of attitude could result in Joshua getting put in his place on Saturday because he’s already been beaten by two fighters he was expected to defeat with his losses to Andy Ruiz Jr. and Oleksandr Usyk.
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