2 weeks Ago By The Telegraph
Anthony Joshua will take on Daniel Dubois on Saturday night at Wembley in an . Here is how the boxing world thinks the fight will play out. The key is experience, and that makes Joshua the favourite.
Joshua has been in bigger fights, like Oleksandr Usyk twice. But I also think Dubois has a great chance. He’s been sitting at the back and he’s the underdog to a certain degree.
He wants to come out of that shell. He wants people to see him under a different light so here’s his opportunity to prove it. These opportunities only come once in a lifetime so you have got to seize the moment.
His graduation from each fight over the last three has been terrific. It’s not finished yet. There’s another step.
He’s 27, the perfect age. Joshua has the experience and style to get the job done, and knock Dubois out inside six rounds. for four rounds, and his opportunity to spring attacks cannot be ruled out, but he is hittable and will be caught on the counter by ‘AJ’, who is the best finisher right now in heavyweight boxing.
I’m favouring Joshua, but I am very bad at predictions. But I will predict Joshua as the winner. But I also think Daniel Dubois will be the world champion one day.
I wish him good luck. Joshua lost to Usyk twice and even though Dubois fought Usyk and almost knocked him down and almost won, I’m still going with Joshua in this fight. It’s a 50/50 fight.
You have Joshua saying he’s the underdog, and Dubois is saying the same. No one’s doubting Joshua. I just think that it’s one of those fights where either one can win.
AJ. He’s my guy. I break bread with him.
But Daniel is dangerous. I think AJ will get him out of there early. Maybe really early.
I’ve sparred Dubois several times. He’s definitely the hardest puncher I’ve been in with. He’s got a tough task, though.
Joshua is proven. He’s been on the biggest stage several times. Dubois is in the ascendancy, Joshua is in a good run of form.
I make AJ a slight favourite. Everyone knows that it only takes one punch to end a fight, and that’s particularly true in the heavyweight game. Neither of them are going to want to get beat to a fellow Brit.
Whoever wins the fight, the other boxer is going to have to be nailed to the floor. If you asked me who I would put my last pound on in this fight, I’d stick it on AJ, but I’m expecting a war. Dubois got hit too much by the right hand of Filip Hrgovic in his last fight.
If he gets hit by right hands by Joshua, he won’t last. So, unless his defence is better, or he’s more evasive, Joshua’s going to knock him out in one or two rounds. Joshua.
Stylistically and technically, he is superior but, until he started working with trainer Ben Davison, he didn’t mould his style around his strengths. He’s now got some predetermined punch sequences that are absolutely devastating, he just waits for the right time until he needs to pull the trigger – then people go to sleep. He’s starting to understand his strengths and implement them.
If the version of Daniel Dubois who fought Filip Hrgovic – the version who was eating right hands all night – turns up against AJ on Saturday, I think he’ll have a really tough time. He’s got a great chin though, no one can question that. Both guys have got quite a lot of experience but I just think Anthony Joshua has got more world-class experience.
If Dubois is there after five or six rounds, then it’s a really good fight and it’s a really dangerous fight [for AJ]. I think he’s [Dubois] getting knocked out within four rounds. With everything he’s good at, I think AJ is a little bit better.
The only thing that you have to then look at is whether he can outlast him? That’s the biggest question for me. Can Daniel outlast AJ? That is one question we’re going to find out. I’m going with Joshua.
I don’t see it going the full 12 rounds. Dubois carries danger in his hands and is explosive. But so is Joshua, and that bit better all-round, and with experience.
I see Joshua stopping Dubois around the midway point. Our betting expert has two tips for the all-British heavyweight world title fight between IBF champion Daniel Dubois and challenger Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night. This is a match-up between two of the biggest punchers in the heavyweight division and both have impressive stoppage rates.
Joshua has a 28-3 record and 25 of his wins have come inside the distance, giving him a KO rate of just under 90 per cent. Dubois’ record is even more impressive on paper, with 20 of his 21 victories via KO – a stoppage rate of just over 95 per cent. Dubois has suffered two defeats in his career, both inside the distance, while Joshua has been knocked out once.
These fighters have two common opponents in Oleksandr Usyk and Kevin Johnson. Joshua beat Johnson in the second round, while the American is the only man so far that Dubois has beaten on points. Usyk claimed two unanimous decision wins over Joshua, while he overcame Dubois via a ninth-round TKO.
AJ is the more polished of these two fighters with far greater experience, whereas Dubois relies heavily on his power. But he did demonstrate his abilities as an all-round boxer in an impressive win over the previously unbeaten Filip Hrgovic in his last bout. With both men capable of securing a knockout, we could be in for fireworks, but Joshua has a clear advantage when it comes to experience.
AJ has an impressive CV with some huge names on his list of wins, while Dubois has only faced elite opposition a few times in his career. And a damaging defeat to Joe Joyce in 2020 forced him to rebuild. Joshua has been on a rebuild of his own since being dethroned by Usyk.
After a tame return and a points win against the unheralded Jermaine Franklin, he has put together three strong performances, with a trio of wins by KO. The two-time heavyweight world champion is the stronger fighter when it comes to defence and movement. So his chances to record a stoppage should come in the latter half of the fight as Dubois begins to tire and is worn down by Joshua’s reliable work behind the jab.
As both these men have awesome stoppage power, the 11/4 on both fighters to be knocked down looks an interesting side bet or alternative pick. Dubois was knocked down three times inside the first round by Kevin Lerena in 2022 and both his losses have been stoppage defeats. Joshua may be the better defensive fighter of the two, but Dubois knows how to pick a punch.
He is unlucky not to have recorded a knockdown in his defeat to Usyk, perhaps one of the most elusive active fighters across all the divisions. The bodyshot that put the Ukrainian down was harshly judged to be a low blow. Andy Ruiz Jr and Wladimir Klitschko have both sent Joshua to the canvas and Dubois has the talent and power to put his British rival down on Saturday night, even if that is not enough to see his hand raised when the contest reaches a conclusion.
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