Joshua vs. Dubois: “50-50 Fight” says Dillian Whyte

Dillian Whyte sees Saturday’s match between Anthony Joshua and IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois as a “50-50 fight” for their headliner at London’s Wembley Stadium.

(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)

Former WBC interim champion Whyte disagrees with the people who have Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) as the favorite, as there is just as good a chance that he will face Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) lose than there is for him to win.

Whyte gives Joshua (34) the lead through the fourth round, but if he doesn’t score a knockout by then, it goes Dubois’ way. He feels that Joshua doesn’t handle pressure well in the second half of his fights, and that’s what Dubois will do.

The 96,000 fans expected to be in attendance at Wembley Stadium will overwhelmingly support Joshua, but that may not matter. Whyte says Dubois follows instructions well, and he will carry them out if told to do something by his corner.

The mob can’t stop Dubois from carrying out the mission, which Whyte says makes him dangerous. Dubois won’t second guess himself when things are tough. He will continue to follow the mission until its end. His ability to follow orders gives him a soldier quality.

“People say he’s the underdog, but I don’t think he’s an underdog. I think it’s an even fight,” said Dillian Whyte talkSport Boxing about the Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois showdown on Saturday. “It’s one of those fights where it’s a 50-50 fight.”

The oddsmakers go by what Joshua has done in recent fights, and believe he will be able to do the same thing to Dubois. However, Joshua’s last four opponents have been middle-of-the-road type opposition to rebuild his shattered confidence.

“Early, dangerous for Dubois, but if he gets past three or four rounds, I think it becomes very dangerous for AJ, as we saw in the Andy Ruiz fight. He dropped him and then fell apart. AJ doesn’t handle pressure well late in fights,” Whyte said.

Joshua will be dangerous early, but so will Dubois. If Joshua can’t connect with one of his big right hands to score a knockout, as we saw against Francis Ngannous, things could turn sour for him once the fight starts in the second half.

“When you get in front of 95,000 people and 60,000, 70,000 are rooting for AJ (it can be intimidating). AJ was built for this stage and this scope. He was involved in big battles and big crowds. Daniel didn’t. So the advantage will lean a little bit towards AJ,” said Whyte.

In Dubois’ recent fights against Filip Hrgovic, Jarrell Miller and Oleksandr Usyk, the crowd cheering for those fighters motivated Daniel, making him fight harder. He feeds off the energy of the fans, and it doesn’t matter when they are cheering for his opponents. It works in his favor, and it’s another bad thing for Joshua.

“One thing that Daniel does well is that I noticed when you tell him, ‘We do to do this. This is what happens. Then he can be very dangerous,” Whyte said of Dubois.