Daniel Dubois has had the “quit” tag hurled at him twice during his ring career, and now he aims to force Anthony Joshua to quit in Saturday’s fight at Wembley. Dubois, speaking with Sky Sports, was criticized by some for taking a knee in his 2020 fight with Joe Joyce when Dubois suffered a nasty eye injury. And some people suggested Dubois quit in his challenge of Oleksandr Usyk last year, this after scoring ‘that’ knockdown, was it low, was it not a low blow?
Now, Dubois says he is the mentally stronger fighter as he goes in with fellow Brit Joshua.
“I’ve got to make him quit, break him down; that’s my mindset going into this. Making him quit, breaking him down,” Dubois said of AJ. “I believe I can. I’m turning it around now at this stage of my career. I’ve come through my ups and downs, just turning it around. I’m in a good place now, and I’m ready to fight.”
So, can Dubois take Joshua’s heart and make him quit on Saturday? Some critics say that Joshua quit his fight with Andy Ruiz back in 2019. We do know that both Joshua and Dubois can really punch, and most experts feel this fight will end via a violent KO, not with one guy taking a knee or opting to stay in the corner after a round has ended. But who knows? Dubois sounds extremely confident, and he says Joshua is “going to be in for the shock of his life” when they fight.
For what it’s worth, I’m sticking to my pick of Joshua getting Dubois out of there quickly, inside two rounds. But Dubois has other ideas, and this is his moment to shine. A loss here, particularly a nasty KO loss, and Dubois would find it very hard to come again. That said, how would Joshua react mentally if he got stopped or badly beaten?
“Everyone wants to see the underdog come through and come out on top,” Dubois said.
Who are YOU picking here, and who do you want to see win on Saturday night?
