British heavyweight prospect Matty Harris, who has sparred with Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, is backing the former two-time heavyweight champion to stop Dubois when they clash for the IBF world title on September 21 at Wembley Stadium.
The bout is shaping up to be a thrilling encounter, with Joshua being the slight favourite due to his extensive experience and devastating punching power. Harris, having shared the ring with both fighters, believes Joshua’s experience will be the deciding factor.
“I think Joshua might have a little bit too much experience for Dubois,” Harris told Pro Boxing Fans.
“Dubois isn’t going to walk him down the way he walked Hrgovic down. I know Hrgovic can punch, but his shots often looked fast and off-balance.”
Harris said that Dubois would need to be more cautious against Joshua, which could work to Joshua’s advantage. “Dubois will be a little more measured because he knows he can’t get hit clean by Joshua, but being measured plays into Joshua’s hands,” Harris added.
Harris also praised Dubois’ stamina, noting, “Dubois has an impressive gas tank; what heavyweight do you know that throws over 50 punches a round? When he fought Miller, he consistently threw over 50 punches per round over ten rounds. That’s a lot for a big man.”
Despite this, Harris confidently predicted a knockout victory for Joshua, saying, “I think Joshua knocks him out. Dubois doesn’t have a good enough defence; he’s pretty straightforward. I’ve made up my mind—Joshua knocks him spark out within eight rounds.”
Joshua has looked revitalized since teaming up with trainer Ben Davison, securing knockout victories over Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou. The motivation of becoming a three-time world champion adds extra fuel to his pursuit of victory, especially as he aims to reclaim the belt that Dubois won in his thrilling, yet defensively questionable, bout against Filip Hrgovic.
Dubois’ trainer, Don Charles, is aware of the criticisms surrounding Dubois’ defence but remains confident in their preparation. “We have a lot of work to do,” Charles told talkSPORT. “The defence, everyone has latched onto that, and yes, we are working to improve it.”
Charles warned against underestimating Dubois, adding, “They say he’ll get knocked out by AJ because he’s leaking right hands. But in boxing, when you throw a right hand, you’re also in danger of being hit with one yourself. If they’re foolish enough to bank on that, they have something else coming.
We’re not ignorant; we’re going to work on it. He took far too many against Hrgovic, but we’ll rectify that in the Joshua fight.”
