“DDD” Vs. “AJ?” Promoter Frank Warren, who looks after Daniel Dubois, said today that he wants to see Dubois fight Anthony Joshua. Warren, speaking on Talk Sport’s Breakfast show, said he would watch Dubois fight Joshua “all day long.” Dubois impressed a good deal of people with his late stoppage win over Jarrell Miller on December 23, Dubois coming through a couple of tough middle rounds as the hefty, 333 pound “Big Baby” tried to pour it on and take Dubois’ heart.
Now, Warren says he would back Dubois against any heavyweight ranked in the top 10. And it is the Joshua fight that Warren finds most appealing, most exciting. We know it’s not very likely at all that AJ will fight Deontay Wilder now, not after what Joseph Parker did to Wilder on “The Day of Reckoning” card. Joshua may well fight Filip Hrgovic in a fight for the vacant IBF heavyweight title; we’ve been hearing about this possible scenario for some time now.
But anything can happen in the heavyweight division if the money’s right, and plenty of fans will no doubt agree with Warren when he says a fight between Joshua and Dubois would be a good fight. It for sure would be an interesting fight.
“For me, [Dubois] could fight any of those guys in the top 10,” Warren said this morning. “Even AJ would be a good fight. I’d watch that all day long. I thought Daniel Dubois was brilliant (in the Miller fight). Absolutely magnificent. He proved to all his doubters that he does have heart in a tough, tough fight against a guy who is very good with his gamesmanship, was a tough, tough competitor and made him fight all the way. He needed a confidence booster. The fight with Usyk, he gave Usyk his toughest fight. He hurt him to the body and, for me, that was a legitimate punch, and the referee giving him more than four minutes to recover was ridiculous.”
Fans still have their opinion on the, ‘was it low, or was it not?’ episode from the Usyk-Dubois fight in August, but moving on, can Dubois hang with anyone in the world’s top 10? Dubois, 20-2(19) did pass a gut-check against Miller, this a fight that some felt the 26 year old would quit in if the going got too tough. In coming on strong to get the stoppage in the final round, Dubois arguably picked up the biggest win of his career to date. If he can keep the momentum going and if he stays active, then who knows, maybe Dubois can win some bigger fights.
It’s not clear if AJ, or Eddie Hearn, will be too interested in fighting Dubois, what is there for Joshua to really gain from the fight? But stranger match ups, or less likely match ups, have happened in the sport. And for sure we fans would tune in if Joshua rumbled with Dubois. Two big punchers, both of whom looked pretty good in their most recent fights, both of whom have also shown some vulnerability. Picking a winner would perhaps split fans down the middle.
Would Dubois be able to crack Joshua’s chin? Or would Joshua’s power crack Dubois?
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