It is expected that this week there will be an announcement to face Anthony Joshua next on September 21 at Wembley Stadium.
Daniel Dubois: The Frontrunner
It is believed that Daniel Dubois, meaning the vacant IBF heavyweight title, could be in for a fight between him and AJ.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said that the IBF belt must be present in the Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) contest in order to use him. Whether Hearn will still agree to use Dubois without the IBF belt is unclear.
It's a dangerous fight for Joshua, 34, to take on without a title shot, but he has to fight someone the British fans want to see in droves to have any chance of filling the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium. Using Zhilei Zhang or Joseph Parker won't do it.
Dubois: The Small and Mighty Threat
Dubois, 26, has the strength and youth to defeat Joshua. Plus, Dubois has fought better opposition than Joshua lately, much better.
Hearn has been feeding Joshua the fringe in his last four fights and grooming him after his back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk. The second defeat saw Joshua lose his mind afterwards, pretending to have a screw loose.
You can't blame Hearn for comparing Joshua to four underdogs in a row after watching him almost go into the ring post.
At the same time, it is foolish to say that his trainer, Ben Davison, has rebuilt him like a teenager, made him a better fighter than before, because there is no evidence to support that.
The four young players that Joshua defeated were soldiers he would anoint even before he became a champion. As a freshman in 2010, Joshua would beat four of the guys he was recently compared to.
Joshua's last four fights were against a UFC fighter who had one fight under his belt and three to go. Hearn matched Joshua as weak as possible to rebuild him mentally and get the fans to believe in him again.
Expert Predictions
“Can Daniel Dubois beat Anthony Joshua? Well, the answer is that he can. I don't think you will, personally. We've seen in Daniel Dubois' last few fights that he can go deep. He can hit the shot, his motor seems good, and his confidence is there,” webmaster Ade Oladipo said on his YouTube channel.
Whether Dubois can win comes down to this: If he can take on Joshua's power, he'll knock him out if AJ fights. Joshua can't take Dubois' powerful shots or hold the pressure for twelve rounds without getting knocked out like he did to Andy Ruiz.
The only way Joshua can win this fight without a knockout is if he uses Wladimir Klitschko's first defense that he used in his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019. If AJ fights that style, he can last a dozen rounds if he doesn't tire or get caught on the ropes by Dubois.
“The ability has always been there. You knew he was a good boxer,” said Ade. “The only question is this thing to stop and his mind. Under Don Charles, he seems to have developed both of those qualities. “
Dubois seems to have changed his mind since his loss to Usyk in 2023 and is still strong.
Dubois' blocked shots against Usyk were weak compared to those he used in his last two fights against Filip Hrgovic and Jarrell Miller. Both guys hit Dubois hard, but he went through them to wear them down with his hard punches to score two knockouts.
“We still see it in the Oleksandr Usyk fight under Don Charles, and there were times in the Jarrell Miller fight where you felt, 'This is getting worse,' but he got something, and he got something against Filip Hrgovic,” Ade said.
“So, you're getting better. You can argue again. You look at who he fought in his last three, and you look at who AJ fought in his last three. Easily fight better opponents. There is no contradiction. That's just the truth. Hrgovic, Jarrell Miller and Usyk. Look for AJ, and fight Ngannou, Wallin, Helenius [and Jermaine Franklin].”
There's no comparison between the opposition Dubois has fought in his last three fights and who Joshua has fought, but he wasn't intentionally undermatched the way AJ did.
Hearn had a big job after Joshua's second loss against Usyk, and he was just trying to save his career. He did a great job of that, without needing to match Joshua with a good opponent.
“Dubois is hot right now. “The reason why I think he can beat AJ is because we are facing Hrgovic, Hrgovic couldn't miss those two,” said Ade.
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