By Scott Gilfoid: In a highly interesting fight in British boxing, Daniel Dubois (14-0, 13 KOs) and Joe ‘Juggernaut’ Joyce (10-0, 9 KOs) have reportedly agreed to terms for a fight on April 18th at the O2 Arena in London, England. [According to @MikeCoppinger].
It’s now up to 2016 Olympic Silver medalist Joyce to finish his side of the paperwork to get the fight negotiations over and done with.
Joyce too experienced for Dubois?
Dubois has the advantage in youth, power and the superior jab. However, Joyce has the better engine, more mobile, and can adapt better. Having competed in the Olympics, and World Series of Boxing, Joyce has a lot more experience than Dubois.
That’s something that could be a problem for Dubois if he’s unable to bang Joyce out in the first 6 rounds like he’s done in 13 of his 14 fights as a professional. The only fighter to go 10 rounds against Dubois was journeyman Kevin ‘Kingpin’ Johnson in 2018.
Dubois looked exhausted and frustrated in the last half of that match, and this was against a 38-year-old fighter that had been blown out in 2 rounds by Anthony Joshua in 2015.
Daniel Dubois can dish it out but can he take it?
Dubois is the more explosive puncher, but there’s a lot of question marks about whether he’s ready to fight someone that won’t disappear right away like most of the soft opposition his promoter has been feeding him.
Like a lot of fighters that are fed poor opposition, Dubois might not be as good as his record indicates. In that case, the wheels will come off the Dubois express when he faces Joyce on April 18 at the O2 Arena in London.
There are the fodder-level opponents Dubois has fought recently:
- Kyotaro Fujimoto
- Ebenezer Tetteh
- Nathan Gorman
- Richard Lartey
- Razvan Cojanu
- Tom Little
- DL Jones
You hate to say it but those are the guys that practically any heavyweight in the top 15 would beat. With an inflated record like the one Dubois has, it’s a red flag that he’s not as good as he’s perceived. It would have been nice if Dubois’ promoter had put him in with a live body like Luis Ortiz, Oleksandr Usyk, Dereck Chisora or Michael Hunter.
EBU orders Joe Joyce vs. Filip Hrgovic
What could complicate this fight from getting across the finish line is the EBU ordering Joyce vs. Filip Hrgovic for the vacant European Boxing Union heavyweight title. They did this on Friday.
At 34-years-old, Joyce needs to decide whether he feels it’s better to face British heavyweight champion Dubois or go after the more advanced title in the EBU belt.
It’s a tough decision for Joyce to make on whether to fight for the British strap against a fighter 12 years younger than him or go after the more advanced title with the EBU belt against 2016 Olympian Hrgovic.
Is Joyce too old to be fighting for the British title?
Joyce has the engine, and the work rate to beat Hrgovic, as long as he doesn’t get hit with one of his pinpoint rabbit punches that he tends to throw. The rabbit shots Hrgovic has a habit of throwing are devastating. When you get hit in the back of the head, it changes everything. As Joyce doesn’t get clobbered with a rabbit shot from Hrgovic, he’s got a good chance of beating him.
Dubois, 22, has a natural excuse for why he’s still fighting at the British level. He’s only 22-years-old, and he has lots of time before he faces the pressures to move up. But with Joyce, it’s a different story. He’s the same age at WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, and he doesn’t have a lot of time left in his career.
“Source: Joe Joyce has agreed to terms to meet Daniel Dubois on April 18 at the O2 in London. Now, the ball is in Dubois’ court to complete his side of the deal to finalize an intriguing heavyweight fight between undefeated big men from the U.K,” said @MikeCoppinger.