Anthony Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, predicts Daniel Dubois will freeze immediately under the pressure and get knocked out within three rounds by AJ on Saturday night.
Hearn needs the 34-year-old Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) to win this fight because there’s a lot of money at stake for an AJ vs. Tyson Fury fight in the first quarter of 2025.
If Joshua’s ship gets scuttled by Dubois in a brutal knockout in front of 96,000 at Wembley Stadium in London, the potential fight with Fury could disappear. Hearn sounds almost desperate for Joshua to defeat IBF heavyweight champion Dubois.
The Joshua-Fury fight could still happen, but PPV sales would be diminished because it would be seen as just a match between two aging Brits, especially if Oleksandr Usyk beats Fury in their rematch on December 21st.
Fans would expect Joshua to rematch Dubois immediately if he loses, just like he did in 2019 when Andy Ruiz Jr. knocked him out. Joshua and Hearn had no problems forcing an immediate rematch with Ruiz, but that was against a different type of fighter, a younger version of AJ.
Joshua is now about to turn 35, and he won’t be fighting an obese 283-lb Ruiz in a rematch against Dubois. If he loses to Dubois, there’s no chance that Daniel will eat himself to a state of poor health like Andy Ruiz Jr. did when Joshua fought him in a rematch in December 2019.
“Daniel Dubois is going to completely freeze in the circumstances,” said Eddie Hearn to Charlie Parson’s YouTube channel, predicting that Daniel Dubois will be unnerved by his moment in the spotlight against Anthony Joshua on Saturday night.
It almost sounds like Hearn is projecting what many believe will happen to Joshua with him freezing under the pressure and mentally crumbling from the withering attack by IBF heavyweight champion Dubois.
“When Daniel Dubois freezes, he doesn’t just stand there and let AJ hit him. He’ll have a right swing up, and he’s going to be very dangerous. It could be a three-round shootout. It’s going to be thrilling,” said Hearn.
Joshua will likely freeze up like a car that has blown a piston and is stuck on the side of the road, needing to be hauled away by a tow truck. His historically poor cardio is worsened when he faces opposition that hits him back. He stresses out, causing him to expend energy and tire rapidly.
“I believe a cool, calm, calculated with a sniper-like style against Daniel Dubois, and takes him out inside three rounds. Everybody is nervous and excited about the chance for AJ to make history,” said Hearn.
Joshua hasn’t shown himself to be “cool” or “calm” in his fights against world-class fighters in the past. He’s always been nervous and panicky when facing quality opposition that is punching back at him.
You can’t expect Joshua to be anything other than what he’s shown in the past because he’s already set in his ways. He won’t change, and it doesn’t matter that he’s got Ben Davison as his coach. It’s the same Joshua as before.
