Eddie Hearn is convinced Anthony Joshua just has to be himself to dethrone IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois on Saturday night because he is a “100 times better fighter” now than when he fought Wladimir Klitschko in 2017.
If Joshua is “100 times better” now than he was seven years ago, he should make easy work of Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs), as long as he isn’t chinned. Although Joshua is a better fighter technically, he is still in his mid-30s and has had a long career.
Hearn credits Joshua’s development to the work of trainer Ben Davison since teaming up with him last December for his fight with Otto Wallin.
Due to the limited opposition, we have yet to see if the improvements Hearn is talking about with Joshua are real or imagined.
Joshua, 34, has fought just twice since adding Davison as his trainer. AJ beats Wallin and Francis Ngannou. These are not quite top-level competitions, and this could explain why Joshua looked so good.
“Just be yourself. He did the job. A fantastic training team, tactics, and we know exactly what we have to do,” said Eddie Hearn to Matchroom Boxing about what Anthony Joshua must do to defeat Daniel Dubois on Saturday.
“When you look at all those fights and the Klitschko fight, it almost makes me laugh a little bit how far he came with the real knowledge and skill he had at that time,” Hearn continued about Joshua.
AJ’s endurance was better when he fought Klitschko, and he was more willing to attack his opponents. Joshua is slower, older and more cautious now due to his age, chin issues, and conditioning issues.
“He’s a 100 times better fighter now than he was then in everything. Footwork, defense, experience, knowledge, everything. Back then, it was just pure heart, rawness and brute strength. Now, he has every attribute. The best heavyweight in the world, and we’ll prove it on Saturday night,” Hearn said.
The way Joshua fights now won’t work against Wladimir because he’ll fight at a slow pace, and that would have given the former unified world champion plenty of time to line up with one of his big shots.
“I know exactly what I’m going to do. I don’t leave it to anyone. I know exactly what I have to do, and I’m going to do it, and I’m going to do it,” said Joshua.
AJ isn’t giving any hints about his game plan for Saturday, but he’ll probably try to start slow so he doesn’t get caught early by Dubois. In addition to Joshua’s fight with the novice of a fight Ngannou, Joshua had knocked out his opponents not before the fifth round in the last eight years since 2016.
