Eddie Hearn has warned Daniel Dubois he will be “outgunned” if he risks trading with Anthony Joshua.
The 26-year-old Dubois makes the first defence of his IBF heavyweight title against Joshua at Wembley Stadium on September 21, and does so after successive victories over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic in which he repeatedly showed an admirable ability to both inflict and absorb considerable punishment.
Perhaps the last time Joshua willingly traded with an opponent was in 2019 when he was so unexpectedly stopped by Andy Ruiz, but the 34-year-old and Dubois not only had to be separated when they first came face to face as opponents, the aggression they are expected to fight with means that their contest is widely expected to be settled by whoever lands the first truly explosive punch.
Since that defeat by Ruiz – the first of his career – Joshua, an Olympic gold medallist, has sought to develop a more cultured edge. Dubois, in contrast, has grown in confidence by refusing to be intimidated by heavy-handed opponents, but Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, insists that if he attempts to do so again he will be making a mistake.
“Both are going to be letting their hands go,” he told BoxingScene. “Both are very dangerous. Some people call it a ‘shootout’. But I think ‘AJ’s’ top sniper. He’s too accurate; he’s too good; and I think if you’re going to get hit against Anthony Joshua you’re going to have serious problems, and AJ’s not gonna stand in front of him like Filip Hrgovic and just ship shots.
“It’s two very dangerous heavyweight punchers, who are in the form and confidence of their career. For Dubois, the Miller and the Hrgovic fight have taken him to the most dangerous point of his career so far. It’s not a good time to fight Dubois, and it’s definitely not a good time to fight AJ. The key points for me are two massive punchers in their absolute primes.”
Deontay Wilder’s defeat in June by Zhilei Zhang finally ended long-term hopes of a fight between he and Joshua, and asked if Dubois-Joshua represented the closest fight to that he once expected between Joshua and Wilder, Hearn responded: “Joshua-Wilder was a unique fight. But the similarities between the fights are – again, they’re two massive punchers, and fast punchers. In that respect, it’s a fight that captures the imagination because it’s very dangerous.”
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