Anthony Joshua will face his most dangerous fight in years when he goes up against Daniel Dubois for the IBF heavyweight crown on September 21st.
Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) is coming off a four-fight run against lower-level opposition, and there are some questions about whether he’s ready to fight Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs), who is a more ambitious and talented fighter than the guys AJ has beating up.
Dubois: A Young, Hungry Lion
Who wins this battle? Has the 34-year-old Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) gone to the well one too many times going up against a young, hungry talent with power in both hands?
Joshua’s ability to take whithering fire from a heavy puncher is questionable, and Dubois might be able to bombard AJ to finish him early in this fight. AJ hasn’t proven that he can handle a fight at a fast pace, and that’s Dubois’ specialty.
If the 26-year-old goes berserk on September 21st, attacking Joshua with a kamikaze attack from the get-go, he could knock him out in round one.
One troubling thing about the Joshua vs. Dubois fight is the IBF title, which was tossed to them by Oleksandr Usyk with him vacating the belt, giving it as a parting gift to his needy, former conquered foes.
The IBF Title: A Consolation Prize?
That kind of taints the IBF title when it’s been thrown to Joshua and Dubois by a guy who beat them both. You don’t want to fight for a world title equivalent to a consolation prize given away by your former conqueror in a sympathy-type move.
If you’ve any shred of self-respect, you don’t want to fight for a belt that was given out of pity by a fighter that beat you.
Joshua is the early favorite, but that doesn’t mean anything. We all remember how AJ was a big favorite for his first fight against Andy Ruiz in June 2019, and the American bulldozed him in the seventh round. That might happen here against Dubois if he can’t get rid of him early before he gets his offense in gear.
The reality is that AJ doesn’t need this fight for him to get a chance to face Tyson Fury. That’s the guy that Joshua, his promoter Eddie Hearn, and the UK public want.
They want Joshua-Fury to happen, so it’s foolhardy for Joshua to take an unnecessary risk against the 26-year-old Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs), who is kryptonite for an aging fighter with a chin and stamina problems.
If Joshua’s weak chin and poor stamina betray him in this fight, Dubois will win, and that would wreck the idea of a fight with Tyson Fury, at least for boxing fans outside of the UK.
The Brits will still be chomping at the bit to see the fight, no matter how many losses Joshua and Fury absorb. But for fans outside of the UK, a loss for Joshua against Dubois would destroy their interest in watching him take the backdoor route to a fight against Fury.
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