Boxing
‘Anthony Joshua is a big Chicken’
Teddy Atlas blasts boxer for being cowardly
By Ed Emeanua
Legendary boxing trainer and fight commentator Teddy Atlas has inferenced that Anthony Joshua is chicken and avoiding a fight with heavy hitters to protect his easy-for-the-picking porcelain chin.
Atlas is betting on Joshua accepting to fight Joe Joyce now that the former interim World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight champion has just lost his title.
Responding on his official Twitter account, Atlas gave some uplifting words to Joyce, adding that it may now be easier for him to land a fight with the likes of Joshua following the loss.
“Silver lining in every dark cloud, and for Joyce it might be that this poor performance will now entice Joshua to fight him.”
“And if it does, you never know, if Joyce lands a right hand on that at times porcelain chin of Joshua, could be broken dishes.”
Joyce was a surprise loser to southpaw Zhilei Zhang in London last weekend, with the Chinese heavyweight fighter shocking the boxing world with his best career outing to capture the WBO interim world heavyweight title.
While weighing in on the likelihood of a future fight between Joyce and Joshua, Atlas, who once had Michael Tyson under his training stable, believes Joyce has the right arsenal to blowout Joshua.
However, Atlas says he’s backing the just beaten former interim World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight champion to triumph against Joshua should they be matched up in the future.
Joyce went into the fray as a clear bookmakers’ favorite, with several boxing analysts believing that his endurance and punching power would be enough to extinguish the lights of his 39-year-old opponent.
However, ‘Big Bang’ proved them wrong, tying up his British foe in all kinds of Gordian knots right from the starting bell.
Zhang’s southpaw left failed to elude the big stationary target pose of Joyce, who was clearly dazed on many occasions all through the bout.
Joyce’s right eye was closed over by the Chinese heavyweight almost on the first ring of the bell and finally the harm got so bad that the doctor and referee had no choice but to stop the fight midway into the sixth round.
A rematch clause in the Zhang fight contract allows Joyce to ask for a second showdown with the Chines boxer, but the Brit covertly indicated in his post-fight interview that he may take an easier route in next fight date.
As for Joshua, he appears to have changed his mind on taking up three fights this year having said his next ring bout will happen in December.
Boxing
Josh Kelly versus Ishamel Davis
Tony Bellew gives his verdict on intriguing clash
Image credit: DAZN
Ishmael Davis has a huge opportunity against Josh Kelly this weekend, but Tony Bellew believes the fight may be coming to quickly for him.
The Liverpool man, a former world champion at cruiserweight, is a huge admirer of Davis’ potential, but he’s not sure he’s had enough preparation time for what is the biggest fight of his career.
Davis has replaced Liam Smith at less than a week’s notice and he’ll be hoping he can cause a shock when he goes in with Kelly.
The Sunderland man possesses plenty more experience thanks to his extensive amateur background, and Bellew thinks that the 2016 Olympian might just know a bit too much at this stage.
“Before i speak about the fight, a big well done to Ishmael Davis for backing himself,” said Bellew when speaking exclusively to DAZN.
“Chances like this, to fight on a huge show at Wembley, don’t come around often so Davis has to make the most of it because it might be his only shot.
“I like Davis as a fighter and I think he’s got a bright future, but this is the type of fight where I feel you need everything going in.
“This has come to him with just a few days’ notice and that might show at some stage in the fight. He’s got nothing at all to lose and I think he’ll give a good account, but it just be a fight or two soon and he’ll become a better fighter for the experience.”
Boxing
Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois
Keys to victory for both fighters
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
Joshua and Dubois with promoters Image credit DAZN
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.
Boxing
Anthony Joshua has ‘Chink in his armor’
Has a glaring weakness that Daniel Dubois can exploit, claims Barry McGuigan
McGuigan thinks Dubois has the punching power to cause Joshua real problems Credit: GETTY
Former featherweight world champion Barry McGuigan has insisted that Daniel Dubois can exploit a ‘chink in Anthony Joshua’s armor’, George Glinski reports on TalkSport.
The 26-year-old is the frontrunner to box Joshua in his next fight on September 21 at Wembley Stadium.
Queensberry chief Frank Warren recently informed talkSPORT that the pair are currently in talks to face each other later this year in a fight that could be for the IBF heavyweight title.
Dubois defeated Filip Hrgovic on the unprecedented Queensberry-Matchroom 5 vs 5 cards two weeks ago to pick up the IBF ‘interim’ belt and may end up being elevated to full champion if the major sanctioning body strips Oleksandr Usyk.
This is dependent on the IBF’s ruling over Usyk’s request for an exception to allow him to hold onto the belt for the Tyson Fury rematch on December 21, rather than face his mandatory challenger next.
Regardless of whether the all-British showdown is for a title or not, Dubois will feel like a world champion if he topples AJ.
‘Triple D’ opens up as a heavy underdog with the bookies, but McGuigan insists that if he can land flush on Joshua’s chin, then it could be ‘Goodnight Irene’.
“If he gets through to Joshua’s chin then it’s game on,” wrote McGuigan in his column with the Mirror.
“Joshua is the more complete fighter, marginally quicker. And he has rebuilt impressively since he lost for the second time to Usyk.
“There is, however, still a chink in his armor first exposed by Andy Ruiz that makes him vulnerable to the kind of power-packed by Dubois.
“Most would still take Joshua to win. But nothing is a given if Dubois can back up his Hrgovic victory with another mature performance.”
Joshua’s chin has regularly been called into question since his knockout defeat to Andy Ruiz in 2019.
The two-time unified world heavyweight champion was decked four times en route to one of the biggest upsets of the 21st century at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Yet it remains the sole stoppage loss on his 28-3 record.
There have been multiple instances of Joshua being hurt over the years – most notably against Dillian Whyte and Wladimir Klitschko.
But he has also proved time and time again that he can recover and come back firing.