Last night on Frank Warren’s show at The Copperbox in London, red-hot heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois advanced to 4-0 as a pro with a ludicrously easy second round stoppage of late replacement foe Mauricio Barragan of Uruguay.
Dubois, still only 19 years old, flattened Barragan in the 2nd with a body shot, halting the much smaller man at the 1:41 mark of round two. Dubois picked up the WBC heavyweight Youth title with the predictable win.
Dubois almost ended the mismatch in the opening round, decking Barragan with a right to the head. Somehow, Barragan got through the round, but was soon finished in the second session. Used to fighting light-heavyweights, Barragan was never going to be able to deal with the power and strength of Dubois.
It’s proving tough getting Dubois a decent test. On the one hand, at just 4-0, the big, athletic Londoner cannot be matched too hard, but on the other, he is learning nothing by blasting away guys like Barragan. There has been talk of putting Dubois in a British title fight soon, and though this would be speeding things up quite a bit, Dubois looks good enough to make such a fast move.
On last night’s card, unbeaten Hughie Fury tuned up for his September shot at WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker with a six-round exhibition bout with Poland’s Kamil Sokolowski. Fury, who, under WBO rules was not allowed to box a “real” fight with a title shot looming, got rid of some rust against Sokolowski.
Not having fought since April of last year, the 20-0 contender needed the work. Fury’s May fight with Parker fell through due to a back injury on the part of former heavyweight champ Tyson Fury’s cousin, but he looked sharp enough last night.
“The risk in boxing at any level is always there but it was my intention to be sharp and controlled in there,” Fury said after the bout. “I wasn’t going to war just for the sake of it.”
We can expect a lot more action on September 23. Can Hughie join Tyson (who may return to action on the Manchester bill) as a world champ?