IBF heavyweight world champion Daniel Dubois is gearing up for a defining moment in his career as he prepares to make a first defence of his world title against long-standing poster boy of British boxing, Anthony Joshua. Now, with all eyes on ‘Triple D’, one of his former stablemates has revealed details of a shocking spar that he and the fan-favourite knockout artist shared.
Dubois received heaps of criticism for taking a knee during his stoppage defeat against Joe Joyce back in 2020 and the young prospect acted quick during the aftermath to split from trainer Martin Bowers and move in a different direction, appointing Mark Tibbs as his lead cornerman.
However, after just three months together, Dubois then decided to move on without even having a fight under Tibbs, instead opting to train under Shane McGuigan.
Although, those three months were enough for Dubois to cross paths with a then inexperienced super-middleweight named John Hedges, who now holds the Southern Area light-heavyweight title.
Speaking with Boxing Social, Hedges detailed the time that he accidentally punched Dubois in the face during a body spar.
“Me and him got on really well, as it goes. We were training together for about three months down at Newlands at the time, still under [Mark] Tibbs’ banner. It was one of them things, it was a freak accident. I’ll be honest with you, I was scared. I was trying to defend myself but he is a big man. Believe it or not, even if you duck to hit him, his head is still there.
“He has got a big head on him, Joshua will know that when he gets into the ring with him but I accidentally hit him on the way out trying to defend myself and I had to try and call the spar off. It carried on and I was going ‘Daniel please, I didn’t mean to!’. There was no malice in it but it is one of them ones, it is boxing, Daniel is a gentleman and he is a very good man.”
“It was nice just to get the rounds in, I just wanted the experience. I think I was just a super-middleweight at the time, it is crazy.”
Dubois is now working with Don Charles, ditching McGuigan after two years in May 2023, but the improvements have been there for all to see, despite losing to Oleksandr Usyk in their first bout as a duo.
Since then, the Londoner has secured back-to-back knockout wins over both Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic, with the latter earning him the position as IBF interim champion which has now been upgraded to full IBF heavyweight world champion.
Although, as a consequence of Dubois winning his belt outside of the ring, the 27-year-old still has it all to prove when he takes on ‘AJ’ in two weeks’ time at Wembley Stadium, in what looks set to be a famous night for British boxing.
Boxing Social is now on WhatsApp! Join our channel by clicking here and getting all the latest boxing news direct to your phone.