Daniel Dubois is a more technical fighter than Anthony Joshua, says a man who has faced both in the ring.
AJ and DDD are gearing up for a colossal showdown at Wembley later this week, with Dubois looking to defend his IBF heavyweight title against Joshua, who is on a quest for another shot at divisional glory. Dubois, 27, claimed the vacant belt back in June after an eighth-round TKO victory over Filip Hrgovic.
Meanwhile, Joshua has been without a belt since he lost his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO titles to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021. Usyk, the most recent undisputed heavyweight boxing champion, unified the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO titles after beating Tyson Fury in May this year.
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However, the Ukrainian was forced to give up his IBF strap after failing to take on the federation’s mandatory challenger, Dubois. Instead, he chose a rematch with the ‘Gypsy King’, scheduled for December 21, reports the Mirror. All eyes will be on the victor of AJ vs Dubois on September 21, as they could potentially be the next contender for undisputed greatness.
And a former opponent of both fighters now predicts that Dubois has a significant advantage over Joshua when they face off this weekend. Welsh fighter Dorian Darch spoke about his past scraps with heavyweight titans Joshua and Dubois, recalling his 2014 clash with AJ at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena before the latter became a household name.
With Joshua flaunting a clean 3-0 slate, he notched up another victory by stopping Darch in the second round with a brutal combo of a right hand and left hooks. Fast forward three years, and it was Dubois’ turn to tangle with Darch at London’s Copper Box Arena, where he too claimed a second-round TKO, dropping the now 40-year-old thrice in rapid succession, pushing his record to an impressive 5-0.
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When sizing up both boxers, Darch reckons Dubois edges out in skill. In an interview, he revealed: “Dubois is just not as big or hits as hard as Joshua, in my opinion, but he was a better technical boxer.” Yet, the battle-hardened bruiser, boasting a 12-12-1 record himself, conceded that Joshua’s knockout prowess shouldn’t be underestimated.
He continued: “Standing next to Anthony Joshua he’s massive but Dubois is not that much bigger than me. Dubois did hit hard, don’t get me wrong, but he didn’t have concussive power, in my opinion. AJ is more one-shot, lights out power; Dubois had me down three times, I had a cauliflower a*** by the end of it, but none of the punches would have made me stay down.”
While Darch gave Dubois props for being super technical, he warned that he must stay sharp and guard up or face the wrath in Joshua’s hands this weekend.. Recalling Dubois’ recent scrap with Hrgovic, he said: “Dubois, even though he’s got tremendously better since he lost to Joyce, he just got caught far too much against [Filip] Hrgovic, and you can’t get caught like that against AJ, it’ll just be lights out. So, AJ knockout, in my opinion, I don’t think it’s going to points.”