There will be a lot of power crammed between the ropes when this one goes down.
Anthony Joshua is eager to see some legitimate challengers emerge from the fog of the rather cloudy heavyweight division.
Joshua’s future, presuming he gets past upcoming opponent Kubrat Pulev in Cardiff, remains unclear considering Tyson Fury’s ongoing impasse, Luis Ortiz’s drug test failure and Joseph Parker’s unimpressive WBO title defence against Hughie Fury.
'AJ' might have to look elsewhere https://t.co/skiTXVzC4a
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) September 30, 2017
Following Wladimir Klitschko’s retirement, ‘AJ’ is in desperate need of a legitimate rival because he’s in danger of clearing out the division very early in his career, which may impact the legacy he will leave behind.
One fighter who could develop into the perfect foe for Joshua is Daniel Dubois, the heavy-handed Brit who is said to have once dropped Joshua in sparring.
The history and frequently used comparisons between the pair would make a tremendous storyline and Joshua is in no doubt that he will eventually share the ring with Dubois at some point in the future.
“Will my path cross with Dubois? Yes. All heavyweights have an opportunity to make a big play in the division,” Joshua said, via BoxingNewsOnline. “He’ll be a player amongst the rest and I will fight him at some stage when he moves up.”
A worrying mismatch https://t.co/OppV0fJCYM
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) September 17, 2017
Dubois recently moved to 5-0 as a professional with an absolutely devastating knockout against a visibly outmatched AJ Carter in a performance which inspired promoter Frank Warren to make the astonishing claim that Dubois “punches harder than any British heavyweight I’ve ever seen.”
The 20-year-old is understood to have floored Joshua in a 2015 sparring session and while that may prove that he has explosive power in his hands, ‘AJ’ doesn’t think Dubois is quite ready for the big stage just yet.
“How many fights has he had? Three or four. He’s a long way off,” Joshua continued. “If a fighter wants a sprint, he can go all guns blazing, but they don’t last long.
“I was watching a documentary and I saw Klitschko when he got beaten. But then where are the guys who beat Klitschko? You don’t hear of them, do you? How do you prolong your career, your legacy? You can’t rush.
“I don’t know what Dubois will do, it’s up to them whether they put him on a 100m course or a 400m track and they create a career or a legacy for him.”
