Anthony Joshua will look to become a three-time heavyweight world champion this weekend when he challenges IBF titleholder Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in London, and live on DAZN.
Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) is riding a four-fight win streak, having last disposed of Francis Ngannou via devastating knockout in March.
Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) is coming off an eighth-round TKO of Filip Hrgović in June.
Which knockout artist will have his hand held in victory by the night's end? With the stakes incredibly high for this championship bout, DAZN lists the keys to victory for each heavyweight.
Anthony Joshua’s keys to victory
Assert the power jab
Anthony Joshua will have a four-inch reach advantage and he ought to use it via his power jab to not only thwart Daniel Dubois’ nimble footwork that he’s been showing lately but also to possibly negate some of the IBF champion’s big punching power in the process.
Piece together combinations
Once the power jab is asserted, AJ must put together power shots with the kind of measured aggression that he’s been utilizing brilliantly during this four-fight winning streak.
Landing these kinds of combinations will certainly damage Dubois toward possibly ending his night and championship reign early — especially if Joshua catches him with the right hand.
Watching Dubois’ eighth-round TKO of Filip Hrgovic from June, one can note that “Dynamite” can get wide with his punching and subsequently be lax with his guard.
AJ spotting this can mark the apt opportunity to unload a big right hand across Dubois’ jaw.
Be the bigger man, bully Dubois
Joshua has been superb on the front foot during this win streak and once he establishes it against Dubois, he can’t let his foot off the gas one bit.
If Joshua is going to become a three-time heavyweight world champion, his ability to walk Dubois down while punishing his fellow Brit will be vital.
Simply put: AJ must bully Dubois to get the stoppage.
Daniel Dubois’ keys to victory
Use in-and-out footwork, while throwing the up jab
Go back and watch Dubois’ performance against Hrgovic and you’ll see some nimble in-and-out footwork during the early stages.
Having a light bounce on his feet while throwing the up jab could pave the way for Dubois to get into a nice rhythm and frustrate Joshua if the champ can be disciplined to it for stretches.
Be more compact with big power shots
As aforementioned, Dubois has a tendency to get a bit too wide with his punching especially while attempting shots in traffic.
Doing this against an experienced former two-time unified heavyweight world champion like AJ could spell doom for Dubois.
The champ has got to be a bit more compact or it will leave him vulnerable to a huge, damaging right hand from Joshua.
Don’t let the moment be too big
Yes, Dubois has been in big-fight environments before, with his experience against Oleksandr Usyk in August 2023 being tops. And he responded well, even dropping Usyk with a body shot in the fifth round — which upon review was on the belt line and not a low blow as sold with savvy by the current unified heavyweight champ.
But it’s safe to say that Dubois hasn’t fought at a raucous venue and under the bright lights quite like Wembley Stadium will be Saturday.
With this kind of backdrop, Dubois can ill afford to get overzealous in his punching and spirits as it could spell a brief IBF title reign in the form of a devastating knockout.
Being as cool and composed as possible will help his chances toward pulling off an upset.
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