Dillian Whyte has aired his views on the forthcoming clash between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium.
The former world heavyweight title challenger discussed the chances of both fighters as two Britons prepare to contest a championship again. Whyte, who lost to Tyson Fury via crushing knockout in his only attempt, says the pair hold strengths and weaknesses.
“It’s a great fight, and there is pressure on both men,” said Whyte to BetMGM’s The LineUp. “Daniel is a new world champion. AJ has been a world champion before. AJ has been the man in British boxing for some time now. Daniel is probably in the best place he’s ever been in his career, so in terms of pressure, I think it’s pretty much fifty-fifty.
“Dubois took a lot of damage against Filip Hrgoviฤ and didn’t make the changes to counteract that as quickly as he should have. He showed he could overcome a lot in that fight, though. He showed that he could take plenty of shots and still keep going, but it had to be a worry about the punches he took.
“If you’re an AJ fan or in his camp, you’ve got to take that as a positive. There are only so many right hands you can take off him before one puts you down, and Dubois will know that.”
On Joshua’s recent form, Whyte added, “I don’t know how much you can take from AJ’s recent fights as Dubois is on a whole other level โ the only thing we still know is that he’s got that right hand, and it’s still a serious weapon. We haven’t seen someone come at him. Robert Helenius did for a bit in the opening rounds, and there were some worrying signs as he caused Joshua a few problems.
“The Usyk fight [Dubois stopped] would be a worry for me for Dubois. Having hurt him the way he did, he should have pushed on and tried to put it on him again. However, he quit a couple of rounds later, which I couldn’t understand.
“He might be one of those fighters who is great on one day and can be terrible on the other โ there are fighters like that.
“I really hope he shows up and is willing to take AJ on because that will make AJ come out. Daniel will be prepared to take some leather and, if he can absorb some shots early and stick it out, then I think with age on his side he can cause AJ big problems.”
Joshua vs. Dubois will occur at Wembley, England’s National Stadium, this Saturday night and will be broadcast worldwide on Pay Per View.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
