Anthony Joshua weighed 252.3 lbs, and IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois got here in at 248.4 lbs at Friday’s weigh-in for his or her 12-round headliner this Saturday night time at Wembley Stadium in London. Each fighters confirmed little emotion through the face-off, looking at one another with clean eyes that resembled two sharks prepared for a meal.
The load for the previous two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs), who’s all the time within the 250s, could possibly be a foul factor if he gasses out if compelled right into a fast-paced struggle by the teenager Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs).
It’s believed that Dubois will pressure Joshua into an all-out brawl from the opening bell, pushing his getting older physique to the bounds. That is likely to be an excessive amount of for AJ, who has plenty of miles on the odometer and isn’t able to struggle in that method.
When you have been to create a fighter in a laboratory designed to defeat Joshua, you’d find yourself with Dubois. Out of all of the heavyweights within the division, Dubois is the proper embodiment of a Joshua-destroying machine.
Joshua can’t afford to lose this struggle, particularly by knockout, as a result of he’s coming off a four-fight, two-year rebuild job. He can’t do this once more after a probably devastating loss to Dubois on Saturday night time. Joshua is kind of rich, with a internet value of $80 million, anticipated to be boosted to $100 million after Saturday night time’s take.
Shedding to Dubois by humiliating knockout would possible wreck what’s left of Joshua’s sanity, sending him right into a downward psychological spiral that will make him unfit for future battles in opposition to the likes of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
Going right into a darkened isolation shed for 4 days received’t assist Joshua if the superior battle-hardened Dubois blitzes him could be an excessive amount of for AJ.
“I do. He has the character the place I don’t assume that phases him,” mentioned Ade Oladipo to Professional Boxing Followers when requested if Daniel Dubois can mentally deal with this high-stress second of preventing the star Anthony Joshua in entrance of an enormous crowd of 96,000 followers on Saturday.
“There are some children that may get on the pitch, and it’s the norm. There are others that it simply kills them and swallows them [when dealing with stress]. I don’t know if that may part Dubois as a result of he has received that form of character of the place his head is within the cloud generally. Perhaps that’s a superb factor for this.”
Dubois reveals no emotion when he’s put below stress. He’s like a seek-and-destroy android with the best way he goes after his prey. For an getting older fighter like Joshua to be going up in opposition to a man like Dubois is dangerous information. Joshua is okay with guys like Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou however not in opposition to an apex predator like Dubois.
“I don’t assume it would part him. He’ll stroll on the market and really feel, ‘I belong right here. I’m the champion. I went to Poland,” mentioned Ade about Dubois.”I beat Miller. I beat Hrgovic. It’s my time,’ and also you don’t know the way you’re going to function, and we don’t know till somebody is in there. I feel he’ll do okay.
“If he loses to Dubois, it’s going to be by knockout. This struggle isn’t occurring factors. If AJ will get knocked out by Dubois, I feel it’s a really troublesome comeback. I’m wondering if AJ will wish to come again. He’ll be 35 subsequent month. I might surprise if he would wish to go right down to the Jermaine Franklin, Helenius, and Otto Wallin sort. Do you wish to construct your self again up once more?” mentioned Ade.
Joshua is simply too previous and has too many miles on him for an additional four-fight rebuild to return again from a loss to Dubois on Saturday night time. Though Joshua claimed he has “Masses” of time left in his profession, he’ll change his thoughts if Dubois destroys him on Saturday night time.
