Anthony Joshua Faces Big Pressure In Upcoming Fight With Daniel Dubois
Anthony Joshua will be under a lot of pressure in his fight with IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois on September 21 in London.
The older, more accomplished two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) is expected to win in the eyes of fans and bettors against the 27-year-old Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs).
Joshua needs to win because he has a Tyson Fury fight in front of him in 2025, and it would be bad if he enters on a bad note after being knocked out by Dubois. Depending on how eager Joshua is for payday, he may take the rematch with Dubois first.
Rebuild
People expect Joshua, 34, to look the way he has in his last four fights because they believe that his promoter, Eddie Hearn, and trainer, Ben Davison, have rebuilt him. However, if Joshua loses this fight, it is questionable whether Hearn will want to invest another two years and four rematches.
Hearn has given Joshua four fights to rebuild after his second defeat against Oleksandr Usyk in 2022, and the UK boxing community believes AJ is fully back to 2013 form. He is clearly not there. This classic soft match was made on Joshua’s behalf by Hearn.
“All the pressure is on AJ because AJ has to win. Not that he wants to lose, but Dubois is 26 years old and he can come back,” said Ade Oladipo on the talkSport Boxing YouTube channel about Daniel Dubois losing less than Anthony Joshua.” If AJ loses, I don’t know if they will. we are ready to do another rebuilding job at AJ.”
Hearn won’t want to rebuild Joshua because Fury, 36, is showing age, and he can’t hold out for another two years waiting for AJ to be handed four cans of tomatoes to rebuild his confidence and restore his image with the UK public.
Guaranteed Payment Date
Honorable Turki Alalshikh has said that he wants the next fight Fury vs. Joshua, regardless of the outcome of their battles. Hearn will not want to let Joshua fight Dubois again as he has confirmed the fight for Fury’s payday.
“This is more than a boxing match against Dubois. It will be a battle of the jab and who lands the right hand well,” said Gareth A. Davies.
Joshua may try to beat Dubois the way he did Andy Ruiz Jr. in their rematch when he borrowed Wladimir Klitschko’s old style of fighting by walking, juggling, and pinning an out-of-shape Ruiz to win that fight.
“I feel like someone is ignoring Dubois when we talk about AJ-Fury now,” said Ade.
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