Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois star in an all-British heavyweight banger this weekend at Wembley Stadium.
Dubois was recently elevated to IBF Heavyweight World Champion when the man who has beat both, Oleksandr Usyk, vacated the belt. It gives ‘AJ’ a shot at becoming a three-time titlist in the division – something only five other men have achieved.
Ahead of the bout in an interview with the Up Front podcast, David Haye has praised Joshua and the improvements he has made since two losses to Usyk.
“This new Anthony Joshua would’ve smoked the old Anthony Joshua in one round. Plain and simple. This version, one round, two rounds max, he would’ve took him out. He’s setting shots up. Everything’s strategised. Everything’s sequenced. This is the Ben Davison effect. He understands it. He’s starting to understand what his attributes are and implement them into his strategy and his game plan as opposed to bouncing around, jab, right hand.”
Dubois has bounced back in good fashion from his defeat to the Ukrainian, too. Wins over Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic showed a grit that some felt was lacking before.
However, former cruiserweight and heavyweight champion Haye believes the version of Dubois that faced Hrgovic faces an uphill battle against hard-hitting Joshua.
“If the version of Dubois who fought Hrgovic turns up, I think [Dubois] has a very, very hard night. He took too many right hands, he was eating right hands all night. Dubois has got a great chin, fantastic chin, no one can question his chin.”
Few, if any, in the sport are predicting this one goes the distance. The fight tops a good undercard this Saturday, September 21, broadcast live on Sky Sports Box Office, TNT Sports Box Office and DAZN PPV.
