Joshua vs Dubois is a very interesting match up

I think AJ is better pretty much everywhere tbh. Faster, more skilled, more experienced, at least equal power, likely more. And although both have had their hearts and chins questioned I believe in AJ being willing to tough things out much more. In a few years when AJ is in clear decline it could be interesting but for now I reckon AJ gets the job done quite easily, stoppage by rd8 imo.

 

Dubois is outside the top 5. It would be the first solid top 10 win for Joshua in five or six years, yes. Still, not a win against one of the top dogs.

 

Dubois is not that good...AJ will flatten him...

 

yeah, this isn't going five.

 

I know AJ is the heavy fave. But, I do think it will be a very good fight at least, with lots of bombs and aggression from both fighters.

I would be quite surprised if it went to points. Even if AJ trys to outbox Dubois, Dubois will be going for it, meaning AJ will be busy as well.

 

Dubious gets blasted out. He's way too easy to hit.

 

Zhang is the hardest puncher in the Division. Get real. Hrgovic is solid. DuBois has improved but will not beat Joshua.

 

Imo this is AJ's chance to divide the heavies like top 3 and then everybody else. Maybe somebody showed him the cringe aftermath of his losses to Usyk and he grew from it. I like this AJ. That said, DuBois has been looking good as well. Both guys seem to be on a roll. I'm excited for this one. Let the officiating be relatively clean and strong and the best man on that night win. Just let both guys leave it all in the ring.

 

Zhang is one of the hardest punchers, yes - quite possibly the hardest, but it's the overall package that matters most.
His resume is on the thin side and his stamina is so awful that if he doesn't get the KO he'll always be likely to lose on the cards.

Hrgovic is hopelessly overhyped - he's only had two fights above journeyman level (Zhang and Dubois), one was a 50/50 and the other he lost clearly... He's also 32, bang in his prime and yet has spent some of his best years choosing not to fight.
He's okay rather than anything particularly special - but he got hyped hard on here, and it's too big a mountain for some people to climb down, I suppose.

Dubois has definitely improved, he's had a couple of decent wins recently and will be as confident as he could be - I still expect levels to show here, but Dubois is a future champ for sure, and unlike Hrgovic he's not even prime yet and is taking tough fights (and learning from them, including his losses).

 

I see Dubois doesn't get any "flowers" lol for beating Hrgovic. I think that's a bit harsh on Dubois. Who would be a better win on Joshua's resume, Parker, Povetkin, Wlad? Hrgovic is a better scalp than all but maybe 2 on Joshua's cv.

Dubois would be one of Joshua's better wins and definitely in the last few years.

 

Wlad
Povetkin
Parker
Ruiz
Pulev
Whyte (okay green Whyte, but also green Joshua)

I'm not even sure I'd put Hrgovic above Wallin... Neither has shown any consistency at contender level.

Hrgovic just ain't that good... Being hyped to hell and back doesn't make a fighter that good.

If he'd be top 5, it wouldn't be by much... But yes, it'd be his best win in a while.

 

Both fighters have the momentum going into this fight,Joshua has been rebuilding and looked very good in his last two outings and Dubois himself took the 0s from both Miller and Hrgovic. For me Joshua wins this with his better experience and Dubois of late looking far too easy to hit,however should Dubois tighten things up he certainly has the power if not to stop Joshua at least cause him some problems,this is what makes this fight an interesting match up as well as the fact there seems to be a genuine bit of needle between the two which always makes for a good fight .

 

It will be a competitive fight and Dubois would need to land early to change what I believe the narrative of this fight will be , that sooner or later Joshua will find Dubois's chin with a straight right. Dubois has GOT to get there first to have a chance. I can't see him going the distance and taking a decision but, believe it or not I've been wrong before.

 

I agree Hrgovic at one point was overrated. He was being compared to Joshua, tall, quite stiff, big right hand but was seen as more durable. We now know that he's a level or 2 under Joshua but I think we had to see that for ourselves.

He's absolutely better than Wallin and Pulev. If you think the rest are better then fair enough but Wlad and Povetkin were past prime that sort of evens the playing field for me. Dubois would be a good win for Joshua because Hrgovic would have been seen as one.

 

On what basis?

Hrgovic has literally one good win... And that was a razor thin decision against a guy who has such appalling stamina it's almost impossible for him to win on points - and who was, at the time, 0-0-1 against top-200 ranked opponents.

Don't get me wrong, it's a decent win and you need a decent chin to get past Zhang, but it was neither a clear win (like Parkers over Zhang) or a win that Hrgovic has enough of a record to back up with anything.

Wallin... UD over Breazeale, beat Gassiev, would've been a bit lucky to beat Fury but we all know what that basically anyone else would've been stopped on cuts there... Wallin's more proven than Hrgovic by a good bit.

Pulev... Beat Chisora, Ustinov, etc... more proven than Hrgovic by a decent amount.


I know it's popular even now to hype Hrgovic up - I just don't see it, he's done very little as a pro.

Even past prime, they were legit contenders - Hrgovic isn't.

Plus, I'm not sure why you wouldn't devalue that win on the basis of how long it'd been since Hrgovic was in his only decent fight?

Dubois would be seen as a good win because he's clearly on a different level to Hrgovic - he still wouldn't get into Joshua's top 4 though IMHO (behind Wlad, Pov, Ruiz and Parker).

If Hrgovic was Joshua's latest win instead of Dubois' I suspect he'd be panned much more around here than he is Can't stand Joshua but there's some asinine double standards around him on here sometimes.