Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn says Daniel Dubois could be knocked out in the first round if he comes out “like a train” right off the bat in their September 21 fight.
Hearn feels it won’t work for Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) if he starts quickly against Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs), who he likens to a military “sniper” with his ability to land punches punctual that destroys. their targets.
(Credit: Ryan Hafey & Rey Del Rio/Premier Boxing Champions)
It could be that Hearn is misdirecting, trying to encourage IBF heavyweight champion Dubois not to start early, knowing that Joshua has a weak chin and has a history of gassing out fast against fighters who immediately jump on him.
Hearn needs Joshua to win this fight to keep his career alive, keep him on board as Matchroom’s biggest money maker, and to ensure he gets to the Tyson Fury mega-fight with a win instead than it comes only for the day of payment after being removed. by the young lion Dubois.
If Hearn can plant the seeds of doubt in Daniel Dubois’ mind, he could use the wrong approach, which will help Joshua win and keep the cash rolling in Matchroom for a little while longer.
Hearn is kind of lucky, and he’s going to try every trick in the book to get Dubois to fight below his capacity on September 21st because it could be AJ’s only chance. He’s not young – he’s close to 35 in October – and he’s got a lot of miles on the odometer.
If Joshua were a car, he’d be pushing 300,000, spewing blue smoke out of his tailpipe, and soon headed for the junkyard.
Hearn had done a good job of painting a false picture of Joshua that was rebuilt by his hand and the clever work of trainer Ben Davison, but that is not the reality. It was not rebuilt. It’s just the same old smoke and mirrors.
Joshua is two years older since his last defeat against Oleksandr Usyk and hasn’t improved one iota. AJ is actually less equipped physically and mentally than he was in his implosion against Usyk in August 2022.
“I think it all comes down to Daniel Dubois. If he comes out like a train, he’ll be dangerous, but he can still hit me in the first round,” Eddie Hearn told Boxing News. channelgiving his analysis of next Saturday’s clash between Anthony Joshua and IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois.
Nah, it’s not like that. Hearn wants Dubois to start slow, because that gives Joshua time to figure it out and line him up for a right hand as we’ve seen in his recent fights against tomato milkers Francis Ngannou, Otto Wallin and Robert Helenius.
Joshua does not fight well in a fast-paced, non-stop war where he has to push his bodybuilder physique beyond his cardiovascular limits. AJ is at his best when he’s a slow, punch-at-a-time type of contest, where he has plenty of time to rest between shots.
“If he (Dubois) tries to get into the fight, I don’t know what the tactics will be. I don’t think he will be as aggressive as he was in the Hrgovic fight because Don Charles knows (it won’t be effective),” he said Hearn.
I hate to break it to Hearn, but Dubois will fight Joshua like he did against Filip Hrgovic because Joshua is even older and less equipped for the battle than the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist.
Dubois won’t take it easy on Joshua, fighting him like he’s walking on eggshells, hoping to knock him out or knock him out in the next few rounds. Dubois will attack him like a hungry shark, devouring a nice meal in the Pacific, and there is not much Hearn can do. He can try to pick up the pieces of what’s left of Joshua later and glue them together.
“They’re smart trainers. AJ is like a sniper. Make a mistake, he’ll blow your lights out,” Hearn said. “So you have to be a little cautious, but maybe they’re (Team Dubois) just saying, ‘This is our best chance.’ Maybe we just go for it.
Joshua’s power is overrated. It has good power, but it is not out of this world. His biggest drawback is that he is unable to land his shots in combo form due to his low stamina. If Joshua lands more than a handful of punches, he gets gassed and stays gassed for three or four times before he gets his second wind.
“AJ and (trainer) Ben (Davison) will be prepared for everything, but it’s a brilliant fight. I think Aj wins by stoppage, but you have a young heavyweight who can punch who is full of energy but makes a lot of mistakes. If you make mistakes against Anthony Joshua, the fight is over,” said Hearn, glazing Joshua.
AJ’s trainer, Ben Davison, is not prepared for anything. He can only tell Joshua to throw the right hand and hope for the best. If that doesn’t work, Davison has no answers. It’s just simple Ben stuff.
If Joshua is defeated, do not be surprised if Davison is given his walking papers, and AJ will look for the next magical genius to come and rebuild him in a pseudo way.
