Analyst Teddy Atlas says IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois must be extra defensively aware in his protection in opposition to Anthony Joshua subsequent month, or he’ll get knocked out early of their conflict on September twenty first at Wembley Stadium in London.
Atlas admits that he was impressed with how Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) willed himself to victory final June in opposition to Filip Hrgovic in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Dubois, 26, walked via many heavy photographs from Hrgovic within the early rounds to put on him down and cease him within the eighth.
Atlas doesn’t assume Dubois can do the identical factor in opposition to the 34-year-old Joshua. If he does, that will be admirable as a result of Joshua has plenty of energy, however he’s previous, chinny, and has poor stamina.
Hrgovic’s photographs early on within the struggle in opposition to Dubois would have knocked Joshua out many occasions over as a result of he’s not constructed to take punishment and by no means has.
The Want for Defensive Changes
“Towards Usyk, he broke down mentally, after which he got here again in opposition to [Jarrell] Miller and [Filip] Hrgovic, he redeemed himself,” mentioned Teddy Atlas to the Stomping Floor about Daniel Dubois. “He grew to become a professional. He wants to enhance on his protection.
“He willed himself to knockout Hrgovic. He walked via these punches. He redeemed himself as a person,” Atlas continued about Dubois. “That struggle was about residing with himself in opposition to Hrgovic and in opposition to Miller. He walked via these punches after which broke him down, instilling his physicality in him. He took all types of punishment.”
It wasn’t simply Dubois who took punishment. From the primary spherical, Hrgovic was hit with large photographs from Dubois, which appeared to sap the vitality out of him like a battery. The youthful fighter, Dubois, had a greater engine and chin than the older man, 32-year-old Hrgovic.
“It was like raindrops hitting a windshield. It didn’t matter,” mentioned Hrgovic in regards to the photographs that Dubois was getting hit with by Hrgovic. “They have been splashing off. I used to be very impressed. I used to be impressed together with his folks that they acquired him to that place, however he can’t do the identical factor in opposition to Joshua. Joshua punches too precisely and too exhausting with the suitable hand.”
The Unchangeable Combating Type
Dubois may have to have the ability to stroll via Joshua’s punches as a result of Joshua won’t be able to alter his combating type by subsequent month. He’s all the time fought the identical method, and he can’t develop into a defensive artist in a single coaching camp.
If Dubois wins this struggle, he might want to do what he did in opposition to Jarrell Miller and Hrgovic to put on Joshua down. Which means taking photographs. Atlas could not prefer it, however that’s the best way it’s. If he have been Dubois’s coach and had him combating cautiously, he’d most likely lose as a result of he’s tousled his sport together with his meddling.
You don’t change a fighter that has all the time fought the identical method forward of the largest struggle of their profession. I assume that’s why Atlas isn’t a coach anymore. In the event you mess up you’re fighters by attempting to alter their DNA, they lose after which dump you.
“Joshua is in a superb place now mentally, and, in fact, technically with Ben Davison,” mentioned Atlas. “If he [Dubois] goes to count on the identical punishment and stroll via it within the first few rounds, it ain’t taking place. So, until they’ve coupled what they’ve accomplished on the psychological aspect the place they’ve improved tremendously.
“Except they’ve improved on the technical aspect and accomplished one thing to enhance to keep away from these punches, particularly early on, I’m not even going to say it may be an extended evening. It may very well be a brief evening in that case.
“It’s as much as them [Team Dubois] to acknowledge that. I believe they do and so they’ve accomplished one thing as a result of it’s not like that they had plenty of time to do it, nevertheless it needed to be accomplished, and we’ll discover out if it was accomplished,” mentioned Atlas.
