Anthony Joshua opens up as a favourite with the bookies against Daniel Dubois – but there are plenty of experts picking ‘Triple D’.
The British heavyweight titans are set to duke it out on Saturday night at Wembley Stadium, in a fight that holds serious implications for both men’s careers.
Whomever emerges victorious will go home with the IBF heavyweight title and punch their ticket for an undisputed clash against the winner of Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury II on December 21.
Whereas a loss for either man could spell the end of their time at the top. Joshua is nearing the twilight of his career and doesn’t have much time left to claw his way back to the upper echelons of the division if he falls to defeat.
Meanwhile, Dubois – although still young – has already failed twice against elite competition: Usyk in 2023 and Joe Joyce in 2020. ‘Triple D’ was labelled a ‘quitter’ by several members of the boxing fraternity after seeing out counts against both boxers on one knee.
However, gutsy wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic in his last two outings have gone a long way in shifting that narrative. Joshua also had his fair share of detractors following back-to-back losses to Usyk in 2021 and 2022.
Yet the Watford powerhouse has bounced back well with four wins on the bounce against Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin, and Francis Ngannou. Now, they are set to do battle in the English capital. And everyone has an opinion on how it will go down.
Who is backing Dubois?
Zhilei Zhang
The Chinesea heavyweight contender, who lost to Joshua at the 2012 London Olympics as an amateur, said: “I personally favour Dubois to pull this off because he is on the surge.
“He is hungry, he is young and he has the fire in him. He had a beautiful knockout victory over Filip Hrgovic last time so I really have my faith in the underdog.
“He will shock the world.”
Duke McKenzie
During a recent appearance on talkSPORT, former three-weight world champion McKenzie said: “If I had to one person right now to win this particular fight I’m slightly leaning towards Dubois.
“Simply because when you look at the last few fights they have had, AJ’s had the softer ride in.
“Dubois has more natural athleticism about him. He’s looser than AJ.
“He would’ve done his research on AJ and know how to beat him.”
Joe Joyce
Joyce, the big-punching heavyweight, stopped Dubois four years ago but backed him to have the better of Joshua, saying: “I was initially edging with Joshua but I don’t know, Dubois is coming on.”
Frank Warren
Dubois’ promoter is understandably backing his man, telling talkSPORT : “Since the fight with Usyk, he has matured mentally and he also matured physically – he is a different type of guy and he is more confident in what he is doing.
“That confidence level at the moment is very, very high and he has to maintain that on the night, and if the confidence is there I really fancy him to do the job.”
“For me, this is going to be his moment.”
Who is picking Joshua?
Eddie Hearn
Joshua’s promoter, meanwhile, believes the record-breaking Wembley crowd and pressure will prove too much for Dubois to handle.
“Dubois, I think his head will fall off on Saturday,” Hearn said. “But that could make him more dangerous! I’m not sure he’ll be able to execute his specific gameplan, I think he could come out like a bull again – which is dangerous, and might be his best chance, but he might get bumped!
“I think he’ll come out, make mistakes, have a high output, but he won’t be able to anticipate walking through that tunnel.
“I think even Dillian Whyte folded a bit [vs Tyson Fury at Wembley in 2022], to be honest with you. He’d had some big nights, and I wasn’t at the fight, but I was watching him and thinking: ‘God, he looks like he’s not even with it.’ And he did nothing in the fight.”
Oleksandr Usyk
Current undisputed heavyweight champion Usyk said: “My favourite is Anthony Joshua but I am very bad at predictions.
“I think it’s AJ. I respect both of these guys, but I predict Anthony.”
Tony Bellew
“Let’s just put two and two together here. [Dubois] took 56 clean right hands in the first four rounds [against Filip Hrgovic].
“You’ll get away with one or two against AJ, and then you know what happens? You go to sleep.”
Moses Itauma
Speaking to talkSPORT, rising heavyweight prospect Itauma said: “It’s all down to the preparation with fighting.
“You could have two trainers with the same fighter and completely different [results].
“I feel like with preparation, this is the key. I’m not gonna lie, I think Ben Davison (Joshua’s trainer) has got it on lock.”
Joseph Parker
Parker, who has fought and lost to Joshua, told Seconds Out: “If you compare the two guys, Joshua does look the favourite but you can never count Dubois out…
“So I do give him a chance but Joshua is [my] favourite.”
Frazer Clarke
Frazer Clarke has sparred with both, and gives AJ the edge: “It’s a really competitive, good fight. I still have AJ as favourite.
“But I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, if [Dubois] is not the heaviest puncher I’ve been in with, he’s probably in the top three or four. He can really whack.
“It’s a different kind of punch. I think on a single shot, probably Joshua [hits harder] just cause it comes with a bit more speed.
“As heavy-handed as Dubois is and as good a fighter as he’s becoming, I still have to go for Joshua.
“That’s through no favouritism but my professional opinion that the experiences of Joshua and the magnitude of the fight is something which is a lot more normal to AJ than it is to Dubois.”
Francis Ngannou
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou, who lost to Joshua in 2024, said: “Even though Joshua lost against Usyk twice and Dubois fought Usyk and almost knocked him down and almost won, I would still give this to Joshua.”
Clarke said: “As heavy-handed as Dubois is and as good a fighter as he’s becoming, I still have to go for Joshua.
“That’s through no favouritism but my professional opinion that the experiences of Joshua and the magnitude of the fight is something which is a lot more normal to AJ than it is to Dubois.”
Lennox Lewis
Former undisputed heavyweight king Lewis is less sure, but believes Joshua’s experience will help him through.
“I think Anthony Joshua’s experience does give him the edge,” he told talkSPORT Boxing.
“He’s been through bigger fights. Oleksandr Usyk twice.
“The only thing is, Daniel Dubois was the only one, out of the two of them to put Oleksandr Usyk down on the floor.
“It all starts with the jab. Like for me, if you go out there and hit a guy with the jab, you know what the guy’s gonna do, he’s going to say, ‘I don’t like this jab’, and he’s gonna protect against it.
“When he protects against it, that’s when you start throwing the right hand.
“Now he has to protect against that. Then, if he’s protecting against both, then that’s where the hooks and uppercuts come in. And it’s who can get to that place first.”
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