I’ve sparred Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois for years – one man is getting KO’d inside five rounds

In his latest column, erstwhile Olympian and heavyweight contender Frazer Clarke reflects connected his idiosyncratic acquisition sparring Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois and picks his victor for Saturday nighttime astatine Wembley…

Dubois has proven a batch of radical wrong

Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois are 2 fighters I americium precise acquainted with and I often get asked who hits harder retired of the two.

It is simply a antithetic benignant of punch. Joshua punches similar a mule, determination is nary mistake astir that. But Daniel is truly dense handed with a azygous dense shot. With operation punches, AJ has the velocity and the powerfulness advantage. But they are some immense punchers successful antithetic ways.

Daniel has had his bosom questioned aft those defeats to Joe Joyce and Oleksandr Usyk, particularly with the erstwhile backmost successful 2020. But it has been a large resurgence for Daniel. He has proven a fewer radical incorrect which you request to bash successful this sport. When you person radical doubting you, it seems to bring the precise champion retired of a batch of fighters. It worked for myself surely and it has worked for Daniel.

There is nary mistaking helium is the underdog successful this combat and that could beryllium thing that helps him done it. There are not galore times successful his vocation Daniel has been the underdog. He’s a combatant who person been promoted and moved precise well.

The Joyce and Usyk losses were immense but helium has been managed precise good astir them. ‘AJ’ is the favourite but if you are the antheral who beats Anthony Joshua, you go a household name, everything changes. He’ll beryllium relishing it.

We caught a glimpse of things kicking disconnected betwixt these 2 backmost successful June – the clip Dubois offered to ‘go close now’ with Joshua showing helium was acceptable for that.

I don’t deliberation Daniel was astatine location successful that situation, helium was acting connected impulse. He wasn’t comfy astatine each erstwhile helium said ‘we tin spell close now’. That’s conscionable not his style. But his squad volition beryllium reminding him  of the value of that broadside of things and you can’t amusement immoderate fearfulness different ‘AJ’ volition termination you.

But successful a nutshell, Daniel isn’t astir that life. I don’t cognize him precise good but I cognize him good capable to cognize that was a food retired of h2o situation.

I was determination for the celebrated sparring story

I person done loads of rounds with some of them implicit the years. I did immoderate rounds with Daniel a mates of weeks agone arsenic good arsenic portion of my mentation for Fabio Wardley and his mentation for ‘AJ’.

I was determination for the celebrated sparring story. I cognize precisely what happened. But I’m each for the codes. What happened successful that gym needs to enactment successful that gym. A fewer radical person been talking astir the past fewer weeks, revealing what they said happened and that’s their ain prerogative.

But I person thing to summation from talking astir what happened adjacent to 10 years agone watching a sparring session. It was a bully spar, determination were competitory rounds, some fighters got wounded and that is astir each that needs to beryllium said.

My combat prediction

Daniel has shown helium gets caught a batch aboriginal connected successful fights and that is thing you conscionable can’t spend to bash successful this one. But I americium definite helium volition person had a look astatine his past fewer fights, spotted the mistakes to effort and change that a small bit.

You person to person a bully defence against ‘AJ’, it doesn’t substance who you are. With the powerfulness and velocity helium hits you with, you conscionable cannot spend to instrumentality shots. You are going to get hit, that’s the quality of the beast but you cannot get deed cleanable excessively often due to the fact that determination is lone 1 mode it ends.

I person AJ arsenic a favourite and judge helium volition get the triumph successful bully fashion. AJ gets him retired of determination wrong 5 rounds, I think.

But immoderate happens, the aboriginal is inactive agleam for Daniel Dubois. Win, suffer oregon draw, we volition spot him successful immense fights successful the coming years. He is 27 and helium has fought the apical boys successful the part already. He volition support improving truthful helium isn’t going anywhere.

Preparation for Fabio Wardley rematch

Training campy is successful afloat plaything for Fabio Wardley and the British rubric rematch successful October. It was thing we were looking into for a agelong time, thing I wanted consecutive distant and thing Fabio wanted too. It had to marque consciousness though.

It is decidedly a bigger combat than our archetypal meeting and we person ended up connected 1 of the biggest cards retired determination connected the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol bill. So it has done itself justness successful getting wherever it deserves to be. It was a large feeling to get it implicit the enactment and hopefully this clip I travel retired connected the close broadside of the decision.

I couldn’t archer you however Fabio is feeling close now. But successful my mind, I americium going successful determination arsenic the challenger, to bushed a champion. I americium not going to bash thing antithetic different than coming retired with the victory. I’m not truly reasoning excessively overmuch astir thing other minute, conscionable focused connected the time successful and time retired beingness of grooming close now. 

We are getting it done successful the gym. At this signifier of camp, it is hard, it is gruelling but we are getting it done to marque definite the result is the 1 we privation travel October.

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