Former World Lightweight Champion Anthony Crolla looks back on the Olympics and ahead to the stacked Anthony Joshua–Daniel Dubois card at Wembley Stadium next month.
The Olympics came to an end last week, and it’s fair to say the boxing certainly made its mark! Away from all the controversy, there was some brilliant performances and for me, the standout fighter was Ireland’s Kellie Harrington.
I spent some time with Kellie in Dublin a couple of months ago as she was sparring my fighter, Rhiannon Dixon. Great fighter and even better person, so I’m delighted for her.
From a GB point of view, there was the usual dodgy scoring, but fair play to Lewis Richardson who went to the Games with little expectation and came home with bronze.
Back to UK soil, and I’ll give my thoughts on AJ v Dubois and that mega event at Wembley on September 21. A great top-of-the-bill fight, but what an undercard! Honestly, so hard to predict some of these contests.
Looking at Joshua Buatsi v Willie Hutchinson, I do favour Buatsi, but I thought Hutchinson looked very good against Craig Richards in his last fight. I just see Buatsi, who’s had a slow-burning career, getting to Willie later on in the fight and I reckon he wins by late stoppage.
Moving on to the European title fight, Tyler Denny is riding on a wave and it’s hard not to be happy for him. He’s got swagger about him now and starting to really believe in himself. That said, the run he’s on will probably come to an end against Hamzah Sheeraz who is improving fight by fight. He’s starting to look like a real genuine challenger at world title level. I think size will come into and Hamzah – who is massive at middleweight – wins by late stoppage.
There’s a very intriguing fight involving my mate and former training partner Liam Smith who is in against the extremely talented Josh Kelly. Liam has taken himself away to Dubai to get in serious shape. There’s no denying last time against Chris Eubank Jr, he lost that fight on the scales – no disrespect to Chris. But Liam knows he can’t do that again and he has to make weight correctly.
I think this is a must-win for both men – certainly if Josh wants to challenge for world titles and if Liam is desperate to win another belt at that level. I just feel Liam can learn from the lesson from his last fight and roll back the years. Stylistically it’s a very good fight. Josh is super-sharp, it’s just a matter of whether he can hold Liam off. I could get this wrong, but I think Liam catches up with Josh late and forces the stoppage.
The fight that I’m looking forward to most though, is Anthony Cacace defending his IBF and IBO world titles against Josh Warrington. I’ve sparred both lads. I was one of the very few to tip Josh to beat Carl Frampton as I knew what a handful he can be. As for Anto, well anyone who’s been in a ring with him will tell you how hard he hits!
It’d be crazy to write Josh off because he’s very physically strong and going up a few pounds to super-featherweight might do him good. Cacace is coming off an unbelievable win against Joe Cordina and I just think with him being the bigger man and with his power, I’m just leaning towards him – possibly by stoppage. I’ve got to be honest though, it’s such a hard one to call, I say that with no confidence whatsoever!
Top of the bill will be the big boys – Daniel Dubois against Anthony Joshua. There’s the IBF world title on the line after Daniel was upgraded from interim champion after undisputed champ Oleksandr Usyk had to vacate.
The IBF have a very strict rule with mandatory challengers, but it’s a massive shame that there’s all this fuss about getting a fighter holding all the belts and it only lasts a matter of months. It’s a bit confusing, but Daniel is the world champion now and AJ is the challenger who has the chance to become a three-time world heavyweight champion.
Away from the ring, I’ve noticed a change in Daniel. He has never been comfortable in front of the camera, but whoever’s advising him now is doing a very good job. On media days he’s coming out with some hilarious stuff and people are starting to like him. But let’s be honest, AJ is still the star of the show although he’ll be in the opponent’s corner.
When looking at this fight, my first thought was to look at the past twelve months and how both men have arrived at this point. If you look at Daniel’s year – he gave a good account of himself against Usyk. Forget about all the low-blow stuff, he had moments in the fight but since that defeat he’s gone on to beat Jarrell Miller which was such a turning point for him.
A lot of people have questioned his heart ever since the Joe Joyce fight. He could’ve easily quit against Miller when he was really putting it on him. But Dubois weathered the storm, and it has given him massive belief. It’s put hairs on his chest! He then took that confidence into the Filip Hrgović fight where he took big shots early but then started walking the big Croat down. He’s got a new-found belief and I think Don Charles and my old mate Kieran Farrell, who’s been added to the team, are doing a fantastic job with him.
As far as AJ is concerned, he was criticised for his performance against Robert Helenius even though he got the highlight reel KO. He has fought Otto Wallin who is best known for giving Tyson Fury a really bad cut, and he fought an MMA fighter in Francis Ngannou. Those opponents aren’t a patch on the lads Daniel’s been in with over the past year. But I think Joshua has improved since hooking up with trainer Ben Davison. He seems a lot looser and relaxed and has shown a good bit of spite.
It’s such an intriguing fight. My worry for Dubois is that AJ has a fantastic right hand and although Daniel takes a good shot, it’s another matter taking that right off Joshua in small gloves. I do not rule out Dubois though. If he’s still there after four rounds, then it could become his type of fight and it’s a real toss up as to who has the heavier hands.
I can’t decide whether this fight will be over early, or AJ catches up with Dubois late in the fight. It’s not a forgone conclusion by any means, but I’m going with AJ to win by stoppage.
Anthony Crolla’s column is provided courtesy of Free Bets, where he works as a brand ambassador.
