- Planet Sport writer
- 18 June 2024
Anthony Joshua close to agreeing his next fight as negotiations are 'nearly finished'
Anthony Joshua is not far from confirming his next fight as fellow British fighter Daniel Dubois is believed to be his next bout.
Dubois was on the Great Britain Olympic team with the plan to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But instead he turned professional with boxing promoter Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions in 2017.
The Brit took up boxing at nine and trained at the Peacock Gym in Canning Town. As a decorated amateur he won 69 of his 75 bouts and claimed two English schoolboy titles, two Junior ABAs, the CYPs and boxed for England a dozen times.
Dubois became the new WBA 'regular' world heavyweight champion after knocking out Trevor Bryan in the fourth round in Miami in June 2022.
But he gave up his strap when losing to world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in August, 2023.
His sister Caroline is also a professional boxer. She is a former Youth Olympic champion, World Youth champion and four-times European Youth champion.
Defeat to Usyk
Usyk kept hold of his WBA, IBF and WBO belts with a 14th knockout win in 21 fights, much to the delight of the large contingent of his fellow Ukrainians who have resided in Poland since Russian's invasion of their country last year.
Dubois was the overwhelming underdog but he had tipped the scales on Friday almost a stone heavier than Usyk's 15st and 10lbs frame, and the British boxer did himself justice with a battling performance.
The 25-year-old Londoner tried to hold the centre of the ring but Usyk's accurate jab saw him shade the opening round.
Dubois was more adventurous at the start of the second but was briefly set back on his heels by some powerful shots.
Usyk stayed on the outside to dominate the next two rounds but Dubois was proving many pre-fight predictions wrong by remaining in the contest.
Dubois caught Usyk with a low blow in the fifth that put the Ukrainian down but was deemed accidental.
While some observers might have considered the punch to be on the belt line, Usyk was given time to recover. But Dubois sensed this was his moment and the pair traded heavy punches.
The bad feeling between the pair was evident as the bell sounded and Dubois continued to focus on the Ukrainian's body in the sixth.
Usyk upped the pace in the seventh, forcing Dubois to take a backward step and leaving the Londoner marked for the first time.
Dubois recovered in the eighth but in the final 10 seconds he was dropped to the canvas.
He managed to get back to his feet as the bell sounded but there was to be no respite for Dubois.
Usyk charged in again and put down Dubois again for the referee Luis Pabon to wave the fight off.
Dubois told talkSPORT: "It wasn't to be my night. But that wasn't a low blow, it was a body shot. I'm gutted."
Joe Joyce defeat
Dubois was the younger man and the favourite to power past Joe Joyce at the Church House in London in November 2020, but it was Joyce who prevailed.
Dubois quit in the 10th round and was immeditaley taken to Moorfields Eye Hospital after the fight with fears he had damage his orbital eye bone.
He was five rounds up on one of the judge's scorecards at the time of his stoppage. But he sunk to his knee in the 10th when he did not appear to have been hit by Joyce and referee Ian John-Lewis counted him out.
It was a dramatic end to a gripping fight which ebbed and flowed with Dubois landing the power punches, but Joyce hung in there flicking out his jab.
Joyce took the British, Commonwealth and European titles and Dubois was left to deal with the heavy fall out.
"I have to be honest, he quit, he took a knee," said Carl Frampton. "I had him a point up. It was a close fight."
"Dubois has some serious questions to ask about his commitment to the hardest game, because that was not the way champions give up their titles. "He's going to face a lot of criticism," Frampton said ringside on BT Sport.
"What can I say?" said a red-faced Dubois immediately afterwards. "He caught me with a good jab. It just happened, man. I tried my best ,but I couldn't see. I'm a tough guy. I'll come again, for sure."
Dubois on comeback trail
True to his word Dubois did regroup and come again. And in June 2021 he collected a second-round knockout win over Bogdan Dinu of Romania.
Dubois put an end to proceedings early in the second round with a right hand which landed on flush on the jaw of Dinu, who did not make the count.
The Brit then made it 16 KOs in 17 wins after maiing his American debut alongside Love Island star Tommy Fury.
Dubois brutally demolished Joe Cusumano with a first-round knockout in August 2021. He put the American down twice in the first round before the referee waved off the contest when he hit the canvas for a third time.
Trevor Bryan was next to feel the force of Dubois in June 2022.
Dubois landed a big right hand in round one at the Casino Jai Alai in Miami. And it soon became a sparring session for Dubois who knocked Bryan out in the fourth round to collect the WBA Regular Heavyweight title.
Southpaw trouble
Dubois took on a southpaw for the first time in his pro career at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December 2022.
And it proved to be a heavyweight thriller as Dubois climbed off the canvas three times to retain his Regular Heavyweight title against Kevin Lerena. It was a thrilling, but short contest on the undercard of Tyson Fury-Derek Chisora.
Dubois' legs buckled in the first round and he had to take a count after a strong left hook and moments later he took a knee with his head still not cleared. Dubois amazingly went to his knee again just before the end of the round, still buzzed by the South African's left hand.
But Lerena never stepped on the gas in round two and the Brit recovered before producing an onslaught in round three.
He put Lerena down with a right hand and as the tide swung the fight was stopped with the challenger against the ropes taking some heavy punishment.
Dubois revealed afterwards he had injured his knee in the first round.
He said: "It was amazing. He caught me and I felt like my knee went. I have the heart of a warrior and listened to my team. I didn't feel it the shot must of hit me, s*** happens.
"I was just saying get back to your boxing and calm it down. I listened to Shane (McGuigan) and I had to recover and I came back out stronger."
Dubois' trainers
Dubois worked under Martin Bowers at the Peacock Gym for the early part of his pro career, but his shock defeat to Joy Joyce prompted a change.
Dubois moved to Mark Tibbs in February 2021, but the pair split without even fighting and Dubois moved to south London and the Shane McGuigan camp.
The Dubois-McGuigan partnership produced four wins in four fights against Bogdan Dinu, Joe Cusumano, Trevor Bryan and Kevin Lerena. Those victories propelled Dubois back up the heavyweight ladder.
But the partnership ended in May 2023 with a "family feud" blamed for the split.
McGuigan told Boxing News: "I was put in a very compromising position. I decided to continue my working relationship with Caroline at the expense of losing Daniel really. Which is a bit of a shame."
Dubois' pro debut
Dubois' first fight as a professional was virtually a no contest as he dismantled Marcus Kelly in 35 seconds.
The April 2017 bout was over in a blink of the eye, but it was hardly the fight BT Sport wanted in their first foray into the sport at the Manchester Arena.
Dubois hit his opponent, who was described as 'roly-poly' by the Daily Mail with a barrage of early body blows which sent him crashing to the canvas and the referee waved it off soon after.
