Can Daniel Dubois Shed His ‘Quitter’ Tag Once And For All Against Anthony Joshua?
Daniel Dubois knows as well as any fighter that boxing is a brutal business, not only for the dangers that lie inside the ring and the tortuous training camps to get fight ready, but also for the fierce criticism that can come from external noise.
Dubois was tarnished with one of the worst labels a boxer can receive earlier in his career when he took a knee and was counted out during his all-British heavyweight clash with Joe Joyce.
On that night in London in November 2020, ‘Dynamite’ absorbed repeated punishment to his left eye to the extent that he fractured his eye socket. Yet, instead of seemingly going out on his shield and getting knocked out by a powerful Joyce punch, one final jab signaled the end of the bout.
The knives immediately came out for Dubois, including from former world champions, not to mention thousands of armchair pundits on social media.
“I think that we all like Dubois, he’s a likeable guy. But if it’s someone we didn’t like, we’d say he’s a quitter. And I think he quit there,” said Carl Frampton, who held world titles at super-bantamweight and featherweight.
“I have to be brutally honest, let’s call a spade a spade, he took a knee from a shot in the eye. His eye was a mess, his eye was closed but I get dragged out of the ring. I wouldn’t take a knee and get pulled out. Dubois quit but he’s a young kid and can come back.”
Dubois ‘Panicked’ In Loss To Joyce
Former cruiserweight and heavyweight world champion David Haye was also stinging in his criticism, saying: “I was very unhappy with the way he took a knee. He took a shot to the eye, obviously it was painful but this is the hurt game. I never like to see a fighter take a knee, I’d rather be knocked sparked out.”
Dubois later admitted he was “frantic” and “panicking” when he took that defining knee but vowed to come back stronger than ever and prove his doubters wrong.
The Londoner responded with four straight knockout victories to set up his first world title shot, against unified champion Oleksandr Usyk in August 2023. It was the perfect opportunity to show the critics that the ‘quitter’ tag was both harsh and unwarranted.
Dubois fought valiantly in Poland and attempted to take the fight to Usyk early, even sending the Ukrainian to the canvas, although the body shot was deemed a low blow. Usyk recovered and his class ultimately shone through, securing the stoppage in the ninth round.
Dubois Takes Another Knee Against Usyk
Yet again, though, accusations of quitting were soon leveled at the challenger. Dubois took a knee towards the end of the eighth round following sustained pressure from Usyk but none of the champion’s punches were enough to cause a knockdown on their own.
Then midway through the ninth, Usyk caught Dubois with a stern right hand, and once again Dynamite’s immediate reaction was to hit the deck. He was in no immediate trouble and still had his legs underneath him. Instead, he rose to one knee and watched the referee count to 10, making an unconvincing attempt to beat the count.
“He’s done it again now,” said Tony Bellew, the former cruiserweight world champion soon after the fight. “I don’t want to call someone a quitter but a man once told me, ‘Son don’t you ever spew it.’ Spew it means to quit. The first time you spew it is the hardest and after the first time it only gets easier and easier and I’m sorry to say that Daniel Dubois has spewed it twice.”
Returning to the ring four months later to fight Jarrell Miller, Dubois not only had his career to revive but in many people’s eyes, his reputation, too. It proved a seminal moment for the British heavyweight. In a tough and competitive bout, Dubois resisted a mid-rounds onslaught from the American and showed plenty of heart to claim the final-round knockout.
Six months later, he secured the biggest victory of his career and again displayed courage to ride several heavy shots from Filip Hrgovic before stopping the unbeaten Croatian in the eighth to take his IBF interim belt.
Joshua To Test Dynamite’s Heart
By the end of the month, Dubois had been elevated to full champion after Usyk vacated the title for his rematch with Tyson Fury – which has led to Saturday’s mega-bout against Anthony Joshua in London.
Dubois (21-2-0 20 KO) will make the first defense of his IBF belt against former two-time unified world champion Joshua (28-3-0 25 KO) and has plenty to prove; is he worthy of being a world champion? Is he good enough to beat a top-tier opponent? Will he quit when the going gets tough?
Joshua has answered the third question several times throughout his career. He dug as deep as a fighter can possibly dig to come through a war against Wladimir Klitschko in 2017, climbed off the canvas three times against Andy Ruiz Jr before exhaustion took over in 2019, kept coming forward in his first fight with Usyk despite taking a battering in 2021, and pushed the brilliant Ukrainian close in the rematch 11 months later.
Saturday will be the first time since taking a knee in Poland that Dubois will come up against an elite opponent – and one that carries more frightening power than the unified champion. How he responds to those moments when AJ is doing damage – in front of 94,000 roaring fans – will inform everyone watching how Dubois handles himself on the biggest possible stage.
Even if he loses, Dubois can still leave the ring with his head held high and with the respect of the boxing world. The one thing he can’t afford to do is be seen to quit.
