Did Dubois Drop Joshua In Sparring?
Eddie Hearn has denied suggestions that Daniel Dubois dropped Anthony Joshua in sparring.
The two fighters face off on September 21 in an IBF Heavyweight Title fight. Joshua has been in good form since working with Ben Davidson in his last two fights. Stoppage wins over Otto Wallin, and Francis Ngannou have given him another title shot. A win makes him a three-weight world champion.
Dubois became the IBF champion after working himself into an interim position. He stopped Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic in his last two bouts. Dubois became the champion once Oleksandr Usyk vacated the belt. During their round-table discussion, Joshua and Dubois’ prior sparring came up. There were reports that Dubois dropped him in sparring, something which Hearn denied.
Hearn Reacts
“AJ didn’t even get dropped. By all accounts, he got buzzed and they carried on sparring. So, I’d be astonished if any heavyweight can go through even one camp of sparring without being buzzed with these guys, 18-19 stone swinging at each other.
“I remember when I first saw the rumours going from strength to strength of him being like carried out the ring, I was almost reading them at the time going, ‘That’s not true is it?’ No, not in the slightest. But now you’re hearing from people who were there. But I’m sure they both hurt each other in sparring. They’re both huge punchers,” Hearn said
This is not the first time that Joshua has been accused of being dropped in sparring. Martin Bakole also recalled dominating Dubois and Joshua in sparring. Bakole is coming off the biggest win of his career, stopping Jared Anderson in his last fight. Joshua has shown he can be hurt. Andy Ruiz Jr. stopped him on his American debut at Madison Square Garden. While sparring has to be taken with a pinch of salt since fighters may not give it their all, Bakole was another name that wanted to face Joshua.
Joshua’s History
“Ask anyone about me. Go ask Daniel Dubois about me, ask Joshua about me, ask Usyk about me, ask Tyson Fury about me, they will keep quiet. Nobody will say they gave me a hard time. I gave them all a hard time. I stopped Daniel Dubois twice, stopped Joe Joyce and Joshua oh, that was a big one, he was hurt that day,” Bakole said
“Anthony Joshua – knockout, round four or five … This year I’m coming to knock them out. Stop them or punish them,” Bakole added
However, Joshua is no longer the same fighter. He has been in the ring with the elite-level boxers. The consecutive defeats to Usyk showed Joshua what was needed at the elite level. He performed much better in the rematch with Usyk, unlike the first fight, where he could have been stopped in the final round.
Joshua has also returned to his old style of throwing more combinations. After the Ruiz loss, Joshua was fighting more off his jab and on the back foot. But to beat Dubois, Joshua must press the action, setting up the narrative for a competitive fight.
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