Tony Bellew is always honest in his appraisal of boxers past and present, and that’s now the case with Daniel Dubois.
Dubois was on a superb run from the end of 2023 right up until July this year. The Brit had found his feet at the top level, and stopped Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and then Anthony Joshua last September to become IBF champion and retain his belt.
After pulling out of a February contest with Joseph Parker due to illness, he stepped back in with Oleksandr Usyk, who beat him in August 2023 and repeated that by stopping him inside the distance once more in September.
Speaking to Pundit Arena, Bellew mused on whether or not ‘DDD” will be able to get back to his belt and win another belt.
“Yes I think he will become world champion again. With the power that Daniel Dubois has, he’s always going to be in the conversation. He has to be. You can never write Daniel Dubois off because he has that one shot power that can render someone unconscious.
“What I will say is that the side that we’ve seen of him where when it gets tough and things are going against him, that’s going to be something a lot harder to conquer. He’ll claim and his team will claim that, oh well we’ve seen him come through those moments in the likes of his Filip Hrgovic fight and the Jarell Miller fights, but they weren’t the moments because he was having success.
I don’t believe you will ever see Daniel Dubois say he’s had enough when he’s having success. If Daniel Dubois is hitting you back and no matter how many you are giving him, he will continue to come and he will continue to press. But the minute Daniel Dubois is failing to land shots and the minute Daniel Duboios is taking too many shots, he will always have to answer the questions. And up to now, each time that’s been asked of them, he’s failed. People say, well in the Kevin Lerena fight, he gets up three or four times. I get it. But against Usyk, it was totally different. He’d had enough and he’s lost. And I can’t blame him because it’s so hard.”
Since the loss, Dubois has changed his team, splitting with trainer Don Charles despite many praising the partnership. He is slated for a December return.
