Former Champion Tips Dubois For Joshua Showdown Knockout

Duke McKenzie believes Dubois’ bravery could secure victory over Joshua

Former champion Duke McKenzie backs Daniel Dubois before his encounter with Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium /

By Mohamed Bahaa

Set to headline Wembley Stadium on September 21, Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua highly anticipated bout, with Dubois defending his recently acquired IBF World Heavyweight Title. Both boxers are coming off victories; Dubois eliminated Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic; Joshua returned with stoppage victories against Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin, and Francis Ngannou.
Noting that Oleksandr Usyk has before defeated to both Dubois and Joshua.

Usyk's choice to drop the IBF belt in order to concentrate on his rematch with Tyson Fury in December helped Dubois, the interim champion, to shine. The forthcoming fight gives Joshua an opportunity to claim a third heavyweight belt.

Predicting a knockout in the forthcoming bout, former three-weight world champion Duke McKenzie has expressed his support for Dubois. McKenzie said, "I don’t know if he’s the people’s favorite and I don’t know if he’s the bookies’ favorite, and I don’t gamble but if I did right now and I had to pick one person to win this particular fight I’m slightly leaning towards Dubois. Simply because … when you look at the last several fights that they’ve had, AJ’s had the softer ride in."

Given Dubois' natural agility and adaptability, McKenzie pointed out these may be fatal elements against Joshua. Saying, “Hrgovic is a big puncher, he’s a big strapping man. When he brought it to Dubois, Dubois didn’t back down, he just went ‘let’s go’ and he meant it … He knows this fight with Joshua is going to be probably life and death. I can’t see it going the distance because they both hit so hard.”

The former fly, bantam, and super-bantamweight champion also noted Joshua's less-than-promising recent performance and speculated Dubois might take advantage of his superior jab. “If this fight is a battle of the jabs, then Dubois wins hands down. In my opinion he hits just as hard as AJ. He’s quicker than AJ. He throws combinations, you don’t see AJ doing that anymore.”

As the fight approaches, Joshua will probably enter the ring as the favorite, but McKenzie thinks Dubois's bravery might make all the difference.