Tony Bellew has reversed his opinion on a young heavyweight following this weekend’s bumper card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The former cruiserweight world champion turned pundit prides himself on straight-talking, and is always quick to offer his take on the current landscape of the sport.
Like most boxing fans, Bellew was tuned into the Matchroom vs Queensberry 5 vs 5 concept card on Saturday June 1.
Dubois certainly suffered damage himself, particularly in the early rounds, but would bite down and take over to force the stoppage.
Bellew took to social media post-fight to praise the 26-year-old.
“I’ll not doubt Daniel Dubois again to be honest unless it’s one of the top 3! He’s had an amazing resurgence! Happy to hold my hands up and say I was wrong for doubting him.”
Dubois had questions surrounding his determination which stemmed from two step ups in competition, first against Joe Joyce and then a challenge for the unified heavyweight titles versus Oleksandr Usyk.
Bellew had previously said of the fights ‘spew it once and you’ll spew it again,’ insinuating that Dubois could have continued but instead accepted stoppage losses. In the Joyce fight he had suffered a fractured eye socket before taking a knee.
Determined to answer his critics, he has now come through the fire against both Jarrell Miller and Hrgovic, showing a good chin, grit and the ability to want it more than the person in the opposite corner.
It’s thought that the IBF could still force Usyk to vacate its belt before the Tyson Fury rematch, meaning Interim Champ Dubois will either be elevated or fight for the vacant full title against top contender ‘AJ.’
Going by Bellew’s comment, he backs Joshua to win.
