Newly crowned IBF heavyweight world champion Daniel Dubois has been tasked with an extremely difficult first defence of the belt, as he prepares for a domestic dust-up with two-time champion Anthony Joshua. Ahead of what can only be described as a world champion acid test for Dubois, one of his former sparring partners has offered his opinion on how the all-British affair will go.
Dubois challenged Oleksandr Usyk for the unified heavyweight titles around 12 months ago but came up short despite having success of his own, taking a knee and accepting a knockout defeat for the second time during his career – resulting in a heap of backlash.
However, those who doubted the heart of ‘Triple D’ were soon silenced, as the Greenwich-born knockout-artist bounced back with two career-best stoppage wins of his own against Jarrell Miller and then Filip Hrgovic.
That upset victory over Hrgovic saw Dubois claim the IBF interim title, which was later upgraded to the full world championship. Now, the 26-year-old faces a tantalising clash against a resurgent Joshua in what will be a third world title fight between two Britons in as many years, although many are favouring the form of the experienced challenger – who has secured three consecutive wins inside the distance for the first time since 2017.
In an interview with Boxing Social, Guido Vianello explained why he believes Joshua may simply have too much for his former sparring partner.
“I sparred with Daniel in the training camp before my Efe [Ajagba] fight, he is a very strong and dangerous boxer, but we were very close in every session. This made me feel stronger in my mind because if I can box with Dubois, one of the strongest guys in the heavyweight division, I can do everything. So, I was very happy to spar with him, he is very dangerous.
“Joshua is back and he is back in the best shape [of his career] I think. I know Francis Ngannou too and we are good friends, Ngannou is very dangerous in the ring.
“We could see this when he fought Tyson Fury, we saw a tough Francis Ngannou. Then, with Joshua, everything was better for him [Joshua]. He was fought 12 rounds many times, Joshua knows what to do in the ring and versus Francis, Joshua was perfect.
“I saw Joshua [against Francis Ngannou] and I said that he looks very different, he looks much better than in the past. With Dubois it is a very close fight and I think that Joshua, with his experience, maybe he can win.”
Dubois-Joshua will take place at Wembley Stadium on September 21st, topping a bill that features a plethora of British talent in what will be Saudi kingpin Turki Al-Alshikh’s first foray into the United Kingdom. As for Vianello, he meets the notoriously hard-hitting Arslanbek Makhmudov on away soil this Saturday in Canada, in the highlight of the Mbilli-Derevyanchenko undercard.
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