Commentator Steve Bunce believes Anthony Joshua will not have the same type of belief that he can defeat Daniel Dubois in a rematch as he did after defeating Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019. did not lose.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
Joshua (28-4, 23 KOs) is now five years older at 34, and Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) is much younger at 27. He’s a much bigger puncher than Andy Ruiz, and he’s not going to party not and easily his way to 280+ lbs.
It is unknown if Joshua will choose to fight Dubois again because it is risky, and he could make more money fighting Tyson Fury next. If his promoter, Eddie Hearn, can come up with a good excuse to tell the public why AJ isn’t fighting Dubois again, they will believe him.
Joshua and Hearn found it much easier to activate the rematch clause and rematch with Ruiz Jr. to fight because he has put on a lot of weight. He was never a great talent. He was just a regular fringe contender that Joshua used as a replacement opponent when Jarrell Miller tested positive for drugs in 2019.
“He’s a bit older and he has to wonder how much he has left. He was so convinced after the (Andy) Ruiz fight that he would win the rematch,” Steve Bunce told ifl TV on whether Anthony Joshua will want a rematch with Daniel Dubois the same way he did after his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. in June 2019.
If Joshua is worried about how fans will see him by dodging the rematch, he will push past his fear and fight Dubois again. But Hearn or someone on his team might be able to talk him out of fighting Dubois again.
“I’m not sure he will have the same confidence. He had complete conviction that if he found Ruiz again, he was going to beat him. It was total faith. He is not stupid. I don’t think he would fully believe that he would beat Dubois in a rematch. He may say it, but it feels it,” Bunce said.
Joshua won’t have the confidence to beat Dubois like he did with Ruiz, but that goes without saying. Against Ruiz, Joshua didn’t land a punch in the first round, and he put up a good fight until he was clipped after dropping him in the third round on June 1, 2019.
“It would have been stopped a few laps earlier. He seemed to be thinking things over,” said Diallian Whyte ifl TV about Joshua who thinks too much and doesn’t let go of his hands. “Sometimes AJ can be an overthinker. AJ was thinking instead of throwing his hands. Dubois was throwing his hands. Dubois was sharp. Credit to him, his dad and Don Charles.
AJ’s trainer, Ben Davison, didn’t want to pull him out of the Dubois fight and risk angering him. We’ve seen Joshua change trainers several times, and it would be too risky for Ben to pull him out of the Dubois fight in the second or third round to save him.
For trainers who are confident that they won’t get fired for pulling their fighters out when they’re beaten, this wouldn’t be a problem; given how many times Joshua has changed trainers, Ben would be putting himself in danger of being fired if he threw in the towel in the first two or three rounds last Saturday.
“Joshua made a lot of money and did great things. He can come back and still have good fights. He made a lot of money and gained a lot of fame. Maybe that spark isn’t there,” Whyte said.
Dubois hurt Joshua not because of the wealth AJ has achieved in recent years. Joshua got hurt because he couldn’t take Dubois’ power or any hard hitting fighter. Joshua’s chin has been vulnerable since his fight against Wladimir Klitschko in 2017, and since then he has been stunned numerous times.
Fighters who hurt Joshua:
– Daniel Dubois
– Carlos Greedy
– Alexander Povetkin
– Andy Ruiz Jr.
– Oleksandr Usyk
– Kubrat Pulev
– Wladimir Klitschko
– Dillian Whyte
“It’s not an easy fight for Tyson Fury,” said Whyte, reacting to the fact that Fury wants to beat Oleksandr Usyk on December 21 and then beat Dubois to become the undisputed champion. “Fury has to be careful because Dubois has that Ngannou-type power. Dubois can box much better than Ngannou. So, he has to be careful.
“Fury can tie up Dubois to stop him from fighting because Dubois let AJ tie him up so easily. It was crazy,” Whyte said.
Dubois will still be a lot of trouble for Fury because he can’t hang on and lean his way to a win against him like he did against Deontay Wilder. Fury’s chin isn’t as good as it once was, and Dubois will hit him with harder punches than Oleksandr Usyk hurt him with.
Dubois’ striking to the body will give Fury problems as he tends to lean against the ropes to avoid being hit with head shots. His body is always unprotected when he does this.
