“AJ” to face Daniel Dubois in September
Eddie Hearnpromoter of the former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KO)believes that the Briton’s unsuccessful fights are due to a lack of understanding of the plan of work in the ring.
“When AJ understands the game plan, that’s when he’s really good and effective. I feel like in the fights with Usyk, Franklin and Helenius, he didn’t have that clarity. He’s a very smart guy, so you can’t bluff him and say, ‘Yeah, you’re ready,’ when you’re not.”
“When Joshua isn’t ready and he doesn’t like the game plan, he’s not going to be as effective during the fight. I go into his locker room before almost every fight and I can tell you there’s a difference from what I saw before the Wallin fight and the Franklin and Helenius fights. He wasn’t as fluid then.”
“When I was in his locker room before the Wallin fight, I was like, ‘Man, I’ve never seen anything like this.’ That’s a credit to his coaches Ben Davison and Lee White. He completely understands and trusts those guys. That’s why they always have the perfect game plan. He knows exactly what he’s got to do. That’s what we’re going to see against Daniel Dubois.”
The British derby between Joshua and Dubois will take place on September 21. The arena for the event will be London’s Wembley Stadium. There, Dubois will defend his IBF heavyweight title, which he received after Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk gave up his belt.
The fight will be the headliner of a big night of boxing. The undercard will feature fights such as Tyler Denny vs. Hamza Shiraz, Anthony Kasame vs. Josh Warrington, Liam Smith vs. Josh Kelly, Joshua Buatsi vs. Willie Hutchinson and Mark Chamberlain vs. Josh Pudley.
Dubois finished the fight with Filip Hrgovic in the eighth round. The fight took place as part of the “5 on 5” event in Riyadh. The British heavyweight won the title of “interim” IBF champion in the fight with the Croatian.
Joshua won his last fight against former UFC world champion Francis Ngannou. After the fight, Eddie Hearn called Anthony the number 1 heavyweight boxer in the world. Joshua himself spoke about his desire to hold his next fight in June, but he was offered to postpone the fight until September.
Source: Sportarena
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
