Anthony Joshua will attempt to become boxing’s fifth three-time heavyweight champion when he goes toe-to-toe with domestic rival Daniel Dubois next month, in the third all-British clash for the coveted heavyweight throne in as many years. As the fight date edges closer, tensions recently boiled over between the Londoners and promoter Frank Warren has shared his thoughts on what went down.
Joshua famously lost his unified titles to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and has been on the rebuild ever since. Below-par victories over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius almost convinced fans that the era of ‘AJ’ was over, but a switch to train under Ben Davison has paid dividends and consecutive knockout victories over Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou have shown that a self-confident Joshua is always worthy of a place at the pinnacle of the division.
Meanwhile, Daniel Dubois suffered a similar setback when he lost to Usyk twelve months ago, taking a knee and accepting a stoppage defeat for the second time during his career – leading to doubts as to whether he has the heart and grit to compete at the top level. Although, back-to-back wins inside of the distance against both Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic have proven that ‘Triple D’ is a world-level competitor.
Dubois’ win over Hrgovic saw him claim the IBF interim title which has since been upgraded to the full IBF heavyweight world title and as far as first defences go, there are few tougher than a dust-up with Joshua to truly test whether Dubois is worthy of world champion status. During the build-up, the importance of this contest for both men has been clear to see, particularly when the pair met face to face.
Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois had to be separated during their face to face 🤬 pic.twitter.com/odNP3x2n8j
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) June 27, 2024
In an interview with Boxing Social, Queensberry Promoter Frank Warren offered his opinion on the tense exchange, pleased that Dubois is not being intimidated of the occasion.
“That was what it was. It is funny, the last two fights he has had those sit-downs where people are trying to get to him mentally and Hrgovic was basically saying that he has ‘got no balls’ and went on about all of this nonsense. He found out that he did have balls and he showed that in the ring – he told him there.
“The one with AJ, it was just out of the blue, they were saying ‘come on then, let’s do it now’ and you are thinking ‘bloody hell’. It is good in some ways because it is good to see that he [Dubois] has got that confidence about himself, he believes in himself. It’s two big British punchers in there and when big punchers let those right-hands go, that is when they are at their most vulnerable.
“They are letting the punch go but they are vulnerable for the counter, and somebody is going to land that counter. It is going to be interesting to see how they deal with it.”
Dubois and Joshua will meet at Wembley Stadium on September 21st, topping a stellar card that features a host of British talent for what appears set to be an impressive first foray into the United Kingdom for Saudi boxing catalyst Turki Al-Alshikh.
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