Joshua vs Dubois is a very interesting match up

You might put too much into name value bud. How you go through a man is impressive.

Why is it basically no one argues Walcott wasn't old when Marciano KO'd him AND no one argues Marciano's KO over Walcott is not legendary?

Because how you handled a level matters.

I was impressed when Joshua handled Wallin like he has no business in the same ring. I was impressed when Joshua handled Franny like how a HW champ should handle an MMA champ in boxing. Hell, I was impressed with his ability to not get completely overtaken by Usyk and didn't get beaten pillar to post and back again.

If you're not impressed by current AJ that's on you. He's displayed impressive skills.


IMO, fans get too into name value and idealism and forget about relativity. Joshua doesn't have to display high skills against top ranked guys and achieve consistent outcomes. He just has to juxtaposed against Fury and Danny and such well. You idealism doesn't matter, and if you accept that you might find yourself appreciating more fighters.

 

Both AJ and Dubious are big plodding bums

 

Joshua is going to spank Dubois. You heard it here first

 

Perfect example of someone setting the bar too low

 

Absolutely.

Dubois is a good fighter who's not even in his prime yet - it's not hard to imagine him dominating the division in future given the lack of quality coming through... He's not the finished article yet.

But...

Joshua's more skilled than he gets credit for, hits hard and is pretty durable.

Dubois struggles mentally when under the cosh - Joshua isn't Usyk, but he's got enough skill to put Dubois badly behind on the cards by the mid rounds, and enough power to stop him if he decides it's safe to load up.

Dubois has a punchers chance, without doubt, but he'll be the underdog here for very good reason IMHO.

 

It's two years since AJ lost to Usyk in the rematch. In that time he's fought 4 times, and 3 of those fighters were coming off losses. There's been next no jeopardy with his opponent choices.

In that same period the best contenders in the division: Joyce, Zhang, Parker, Hrgovic, Wilder and Dubois have almost had a mini tournament, winners and losers facing off against each other. As a result, all of them barring Wilder have claimed a better win than AJ has had since Ruiz....4 and a half years ago.

AJ gets a pass for sitting out whilst the rest of the contenders face off. So yeah, he's not been that impressive.

 

Take it you didn't watch the Hrgovic or Miller fights? He showed important attributes in that fight, heart, grind, chin, and the ability to have a tear up.

When was the last time AJ was in a tear up? A couple of spells in the Usyk fights towards the end. But other than that it was Ruiz 1. And we saw what happened there. And he sure damn made sure not to have fight in the rematch. There's a reason all of Joshua's opponents since then haven't been dangerous pressure fighters. Because AJ is terrible when in a dogfight and on the back foot. AJ needs to set his punches up for them to be effective. If you put him on the back foot you take away his biggest weapon. Dubois will make it war from the start, and he will be the one more comfortable with that style of fight. We don't know how AJ's mentality will hold up once a few big shots from Dubois land. AJ is well out of practice for this style of fight. Dubois could tire mid-late rounds, which give AJ a chance to set something up. But it'll be a torrential first half of the fight for him.

 

In a 50/50 battle, which both those fights were for significant periods, he's fine... When he's being dominated, like against Usyk and Joyce, there's a question mark over his ability to dig in, IMHO.

I think a lot of people are overrating Dubois recent opponents, too... Miller has a good chin, but his cardio makes Zhang look fit and he wouldn't beat anyone particularly serious. Hrgovic is a hypejob with only one decent performance to his name, against Zhang, where he got given the nod in a 50/50 affair - there's little to no evidence that Hrgovic is the contender he's being made out to be.

 

Like you said. Joshua isn't Usyk, He won't be using movement and angles to pepper Dubois up with. Joyce used his size and jab to great effect to nullify Dubois. But there's two things to consider; the first is that fight was 3 and a half years ago. Dubois is an improved, experienced fighter. The 2nd is whether AJ can utilise his size and jab against a pressure fighter, 'cause we've not seen that in a hell of a long time. Wallin's a good fighter and it was a good knock out, but Dubois will be bringing an intensity that will unsettle AJ, from the get go, and again as soon as he's on the back foot, he becomes far less effective.

 

Franklin wasn't a puncher and neither was Wallin, Ngannou doesn't know how to box, Dubois is a tougher opponent than those mentioned above and he will be able to threaten Joshua because he has the power to do so...

 

I’m excited for this matchup. I’ve always been an AJ fan and Dubois has only been improving. The result is obvious though, AJ is just way too skilled for Dubois and should take over and stop him in the second half.

 

I agree that Joshua should get credit for beating Wallin as easily as he did. What matters most is the big wins, though, and Dubois will tell us more about what level Joshua is on right now.

Of course, if Joshua dismantle him like he did Wallin it will again be dismissed with "who did Dubois ever beat?" Many here want to forget now that they predicted a win for Wallin or that Joshua would win through robbery.

 

I see this playing out like AJ Whyte.

Dubois might clip him and have some success, but AJ gonna spark him.

I will be rooting for Dubois though because he is the underdog.

War DDD

 

I'm still not 100% sold on Dubois, tbh. He's done really well to come back like he has but, let's be honest, his last two fights were seen as 50-50 contests going in. And when he's stepped up to the higher end of the division he's lost (Usyk was obviously much higher than Joyce) - and in a similar way ( he seemed to crumble somewhat, mentally, in both those defeats).
AJ isn't perfect. But he's better than some people give him credit for. He's certainly the more proven commodity here. I've got to be honest and say I can't see anything other than a Joshua win here, and in a contest I can take or leave.