Anthony Joshua will attempt to become boxing’s fifth three-time heavyweight champion when he steps through the ropes against fellow Brit and newly crowned IBF title-holder Daniel Dubois this weekend in one of the boxing events of the year. Now, famed trainer, commentator and fight analyst Teddy Atlas has offered his verdict on the match-up.
‘AJ’ has honed his skills and discovered a style that suits him best since partnering up with former Tyson Fury trainer Ben Davison late last year, scoring sensational stoppage wins over both Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou since teaming up. As a result, Joshua now finds himself competing at the top table once again and could etch his name into the history books if he is able to pull off the victory.
Meanwhile, Daniel Dubois has hit similar form since appointing Don Charles last year, bouncing back from defeat to Oleksandr Usyk with career-best displays and knockouts against Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic – the latter earning him the position of interim champion which was later upgraded to full IBF world champion.
Now Dubois has the chance to prove that he is worthy of the mantle of a world champion in boxing’s glamour division. However, speaking on his podcast, ‘The Fight’, Atlas – who guided Michael Moorer to the heavyweight throne in 1994, predicted that Dubois will not make it to the third-round against this improved version of Joshua.
“I think that Anthony Joshua is in the best place that he has been since he beat [Wladimir] Klitschko for the title and was a young heavyweight champion after being an Olympic champion. I think that he is in a real good place with his trainer, [Ben] Davison.
“Dubois was tremendous in his last fight with Hrgovic, he overcame, he broke Hrgovic down, he evaporated him like a hot summer’s day evaporating a puddle – right in front of your eyes, with his toughness and physicality. He is strong, he is a good puncher, he can now impose the will that he didn’t have earlier [in his career], he has got that will now.
“If he hits Joshua, he can hurt him, but if he gets hit with the kind of right-hand’s that he overcame against Hrgovic, who doesn’t punch as hard or concise as Joshua, then he won’t be around to overcome it. He won’t be around to impose his will. He won’t be around to hurt Joshua with his physical presence and power. He won’t be there – he will get knocked out.
“Unless he has improved his defence and his ability to get away from right-hand’s, which he did not do against Hrgovic, unless he has done that in the last couple of months since that fight – Joshua is going to knock him out in one or two rounds.”
Joshua-Dubois takes place on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in London as Turki Al-Alshikh stages a first Riyadh Season card on British soil with a must-watch event for boxing fans around the globe.
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