Lightweight contender Maxi Hughes is picking IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois to defeat Anthony Joshua by knockout in their headliner next month on September 21st at the sold-out Wembley Stadium in London.
Joshua’s Fragile Chin
Hughes notes that the 34-year-old Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) sometimes “falls to pieces” when hit hard in his fights, and he feels that Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) possesses the kind of power that will expose this problem.
Some fans believe Joshua has been rebuilt with the help of trainer Ben Davison, who has him fighting more aggressively since teaming up. However, the opposition Joshua has been facing since adding Ben to his corner has been subpar, making it impossible to know if he’s improved.
Joshua has beaten fighters like Francis Ngannou, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin, and Jermaine Franklin, whom he could have destroyed with his first coach, Rob McCracken. AJ didn’t need Ben to help him defeat those guys, as they’re not first-tier heavyweights.
Dubois’ Improvements
Dubois, 26, has shown remarkable improvement lately, more so than Joshua, with his victories over Filip Hrgovic, Jarrell Miller, and Kevin Lerena. You can argue that Dubois deserved a knockout win in his fight against Oleksandr Usyk last year in August.
Dubois dropped Usyk with a beltline body shot in the fifth, but the referee ruled it a low blow. Replays showed that it was on the beltline and should have counted.
“I’m going with the unpopular decision of backing Dubois. I’ve seen a lot of the interviews of other heavyweights talking about sparring them both and saying how hard Dubois is,” said Maxi Hughes to the Secondsout YouTube channel, picking IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois to defeat challenger Anthony Joshua on September 21st.
“He’s gaining experience and coming off a very good win against Filip Hrgovic [on June 1st]. So, he’ll be confident, and obviously, Joshua will be confident coming off his win [Francis Nganou on March 8th]. I just feel like when Joshua does get hit, he can sometimes fall to pieces,” said Hughes.
Silver Lining for Joshua
If Joshua’s chin hasn’t improved under Ben Davison’s watch, and I don’t see how it could, Dubois may evaporate him with one of his power shots and end his vision of becoming a three-time heavyweight champion. It won’t be the end of the world for Joshua because His Excellency Turki Alalshikhi has already told him that he’ll get the mega-fight against Tyson Fury, even if he loses to Dubois.
“I know people say Dubois quit, but his eye was badly damaged against [Joe] Joyce [in November 2020].,” said Hughes. “He’s since had the fight [against southpaw Kevin Lerena in December 2022], and Dubois was down three times in round one. He got back up and got the job done.
“So, I feel like he put a lot of demons to bed there, getting put down three times and getting back up and finishing the job in the next round [in the third]. So, that’s going to give him confidence. Dubois has been upgraded to the [IBF] champion as well.
“So, that adds 10% to his confidence as well. I’m backing Dubois by stoppage,” said Hughes.
