Former World Lightweight Champion Anthony Crolla makes his predictions for the stacked Anthony Joshua–Daniel Dubois card at Wembley Stadium tonight.
Wembley Stadium will be bouncing tonight when Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois fight for the vacant IBF heavyweight title. It’s another enormous night as part of Riyadh Season – they’ve even got Liam Gallagher on the bill!
The title being on the line is controversial after undisputed champ Oleksandr Usyk had to vacate, but it adds a massive carrot for both lads, with AJ looking to become a three-time world champion.
There’s a really intriguing contest at 160lbs between late replacement Ishmael Davis and the super talented Josh Kelly. My old mate and former training partner Liam Smith was due to fight Josh, but has been forced out with a virus. Fair play to Ishmael then for jumping at the opportunity. Davis is a handful for anyone, but I do think Josh is a special talent, and although he’ll have to come through some sticky moments, I expect him to be just a bit too cute and win the fight on points
Josh Buatsi against Willy Hutchinson is a fascinating fight. I was really impressed with Willy last time out, and you can’t look into sparring stories too much, but I know for a fact Willy frustrated the life out of Josh when they sparred. There’s a chance Willy could do the same as he did against Craig Richards and come home with a comfortable points win, but I just believe Buatsi will overcome early frustration and eventually catch his man. It’s not with great confidence, but I think it’s Buatsi by late stoppage.
The fight I’m most looking forward to is Anthony Cacace versus Josh Warrington. Anto is a big lad at the weight, but the move up to super-featherweight will suit Josh. I really don’t want to go against either man as they’re both my mates, but I genuinely think Josh is a very live underdog and he could out-muscle Anto in the second half of the contest to win a very tight fight on points.
At middleweight, reigning European champion Tyler Denny is on a fantastic run, but I think it comes to an end in north London. Hamza Sheeraz is one of the most improved fighters in the UK and I think he’ll be too big and long for Denny and catch up with him just after the halfway mark. But listen, Tyler is living the dream, and he’s earned his spot on this card. His confidence is through the roof, so I do think he’ll have some success early on, but I just think Hamza will overcome a bit of adversity to get the stoppage.
As for the main event – AJ in against Dubois – what a fantastic fight! The first three rounds are so important in this fight, and I think AJ will be sharp early on. It all depends on how much punishment Daniel takes in those first few rounds. If he doesn’t take too much, after four or five rounds, I think he could get to AJ with possibly even a stoppage. But my pick is for Joshua to land a little bit too often early on and after a bit of a shootout, AJ gets the job done around the fifth round.
Finally, Liam Gallagher is also on the card and I’m looking forward to watching him and Noel perform at Heaton Park in Manchester. If they fall out again this week and want to settle their differences in the ring, I’ve heard from good sources that Liam was a bit handy and loved a fight when he was at school, so I’m backing him all day!
Anthony Crolla is a brand ambassador for Freebets.com, the home of best betting sites.
