Hall Of Famer Says Daniel Dubois Still ‘Has Quit In Him’ Ahead Of Anthony Joshua Fight
Daniel Dubois is in prime position for another world title shot at just 26-years-old.
The Brit’s recent win over Filip Hrgovic, a fight stopped on cuts to the Croatian, granted him the IBF Interim World Title.
That sanctioning body is currently deciding on whether or not to force current undisputed champion Oleksandr Usyk to vacate its belt given he won’t be fulfilling his mandatory challenge, instead rematching Tyson Fury later this year.
If the belt is made vacant, Dubois would be fighting for it against the next top contender. That is one Anthony Joshua, and the pair are potentially set to meet at Wembley Stadium this September.
Hall of Fame fighter and manager Barry McGuigan – whose son Shane trained Dubois for a period – spoke to Seconds Out about the match-up, backing ‘AJ’ as favourite.
“The thing about Dubois, Dubois can punch so hard it only takes a split second. You give him the opportunity … anybody he hits he can knock them out. Having said that, Joshua’s the favourite, but you’ve got to give Dubois a chance with anybody.”
“He was losing I thought to Hrgovic. Hrgovic was beating him comprehensively and then that cut happened and it was all over. But, he’s got a tremendous punch.”
“Joshua’s a more complete fighter, he’s better all-round, he can box and fight. I definitely think that Joshua will be too much for him, but [Daniel] has a puncher’s chance.”
Whilst the younger man has done well in his last two fights to answer any questions of a lack of heart or grit in the ring, brought on by taking a knee against Joe Joyce from a severe eye injury and missing the count against Usyk for another stoppage loss, McGuigan still has questions.
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“It seems to me that when he gets in to a critical situation, when he gets tired, dare I say it there’s a bit of quit in him. I don’t want to be unfair just because he left the gym, I’m just being honest. You look at the fight against Usyk and the fight against Joe Joyce, similar circumstances.
People said he quit. He had an eye injury against Joyce and he got out-schooled by Usyk… But he had him down. There’s a pretty high standard that he’s keeping up to, but I think Joshua is a favourite. In heavyweight boxing it only takes a second of a lack of concentration.”
