An announcement is predicted this week on Wednesday for Anthony Joshua’s subsequent opponent on September twenty first at Wembley Stadium.
Daniel Dubois: The Frontrunner
It’s believed that Daniel Dubois, which suggests the vacant IBF heavyweight title, will doubtless be out there for the struggle between him and AJ.
Promoter Eddie Hearn had stated the IBF belt needed to be out there for the Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) contest for them to make use of him. Whether or not Hearn would nonetheless agree to make use of Dubois with out the IBF strap is unclear.
It’s a dangerous struggle for the 34-year-old Joshua to be taking with no title being on the road, however he’s acquired to struggle somebody the British followers would need to see in massive numbers to have an opportunity of filling the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium. Utilizing Zhilei Zhang or Joseph Parker gained’t do it.
Dubois: A Younger and Highly effective Menace
Dubois, 26, has the ability and the youth to defeat Joshua. Furthermore, Dubois has fought higher opposition than Joshua has currently, significantly better.
Hearn has been feeding Joshua fringe contenders in his final 4 fights and refurbishing him after his back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk. The second defeat noticed Joshua mentally meltdown afterward, appearing like he had a screw unfastened.
You possibly can’t blame Hearn for matching Joshua in opposition to 4 consecutive lesser fighters after watching him virtually go postal contained in the ring.
On the similar time, it’s disingenuous to say that his coach, Ben Davison, has rebuilt him like new, turning him into a greater fighter than he ever was, as a result of there isn’t any proof to assist that declare.
The 4 lesser fighters that Joshua beat had been fighters he would have creamed even earlier than he turned professional. As an newbie from 2010, Joshua would have overwhelmed the 4 guys he was not too long ago matched in opposition to.
Joshua’s final 4 fights had been in opposition to a former UFC fighter with one bout beneath his belt and three journeymen. Hearn matched Joshua as weak as attainable to rebuild him mentally and get the followers to imagine in him once more.
Knowledgeable Predictions
“Can Daniel Dubois beat Anthony Joshua? The reply is, in fact, he can. I don’t suppose he’ll, personally. We’ve seen in Daniel Dubois’ final couple of fights that he can dig deep. He can take a smack, his engine appears good, and his confidence is there,” stated net host Ade Oladipo on his YouTube channel.
Whether or not Dubois can win comes right down to this: If he can take Joshua’s energy, he’ll knock him out if AJ involves struggle. Joshua can’t take Dubois’ massive energy pictures or deal with his stress for twelve rounds with out imploding like he did in opposition to Andy Ruiz.
The one means Joshua can win this struggle with out scoring a knockout is that if he adopts the identical Wladimir Klitschko security first fashion he used for his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019. If AJ fights with that fashion, he can presumably final twelve rounds if he doesn’t get drained or caught in opposition to the ropes by Dubois.
“The flexibility has all the time been there. You knew he was a great boxer,” stated Ade. “The one query has been this quitting factor and his mindset. Beneath Don Charles, he appears to have improved each of these elements.”
Dubois seems to have modified mentally since his loss to Usyk in 2023 and has turn into harder.
The pictures that Dubois was stopped by in opposition to Usyk had been weak in comparison with those he absorbed in his final two fights in opposition to Filip Hrgovic and Jarrell Miller. Each guys hit Dubois loads, however he walked by way of them to put on them down together with his personal laborious punches to attain a pair of knockouts.
“We nonetheless noticed it within the Oleksandr Usyk struggle beneath Don Charles, and there was instances within the Jarrell Miller struggle the place you felt, ‘That is getting a bit nasty,’ however he discovered one thing, and he definitely discovered one thing in opposition to Filip Hrgovic,” stated Ade.
“So, he’s getting means higher. You possibly can argue as nicely. You have a look at who he has fought in his final three, and also you have a look at who AJ has fought in his final three. He’s simply fought the higher opposition. There’s no argument. That’s simply reality. Hrgovic, Jarrell Miller and Usyk. You have a look at AJ, and he’s fought Ngannou, Wallin, Helenius [and Jermaine Franklin].”
There’s no comparability between the opposition Dubois has fought in his final three fights and who Joshua has fought, however he’s not been deliberately matched softly the best way AJ has.
Hearn had a serious undertaking after Joshua’s second defeat in opposition to Usyk, and he was simply making an attempt to salvage his profession. He’s executed an admirable job at that, with no need to match Joshua in opposition to a great opponent.
“Dubois proper now could be sizzling. The rationale why I don’t suppose he can beat AJ is as a result of in opposition to Hrgovic, Hrgovic couldn’t miss with these one-twos,” stated Ade.
