By Tim Royner: Promoter Bob Arum thinks that Daniel Dubois could be a problem for Tyson Fury by next year as he matures. The 22-year-old Dubois (14-0, 13 KOs) is unbeaten and possesses excellent punching power with both hands. The body punching ability of the 6’5″, 240-pound Dubois could give Fury nightmares, as he’s someone that moves his head well.
Luckily for Fury, his opponents have been headhunters, and they made it easy for him to avoid their shots. Dubois is a different story. He knows how to go to the body, and he’ll doubtlessly attack Fury downstairs rather than waste energy trying to hit his head.
Past Fury opponents Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder put too much emphasis at trying to land headshots, and they paid for it in getting outboxed and countered all night.
The only opponents that Fury has faced that have had the ring-smarts to attack his soft midsection is John McDermott and Otto Wallin. McDermott fought well enough to deserve a win in his first fight with Fury in 2009, and Wallin gave ‘The Gypsy King’ a run for his money in 2019.
Dubois could give Fury trouble – Arum
“First of all, you’d have to pick a big guy. You couldn’t pick a little guy because Fury would just lay all over him,” said Arum to Boxing Social when asked what type of heavyweight could beat Fury. “You’d have to pick a guy that knows how to box, is a good boxer, and can punch.
Not necessarily a guy that couldn’t box particularly well, but had a rifle for a punch. I think Fury demonstrated how you fight a guy like Wilder. But the guy I’m interested in down the road, a guy that can box a little, is big and can punch as well is Dubois.
“He might in a year or so give Fury a run for his money. That would be an interesting fight. If ‘Big Baby’ Miller got his act together, he might also give Fury a run for his money down the line,” said Arum.
Dubois has a better job than Fury, and, of course, far superior power with either hand. His inside game is better than Fury as well, and he’s arguably more courageous than Wladimir and Deontay. In other words, Dubois won’t be afraid of throwing his power shots for fear of missing.
The way that Fury used his size to rough up Wilder on the inside, he won’t be able to do that against Dubois. He’s too powerful in close, and his weight isn’t that far off from Fury’s.
Arum questions whether Dubois can handle Wilder’s power
“I don’t know about that,” said Arum when told that Dubois’ promoter believes he’ll be ready to take on former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder after he faces Joe Joyce.
“As much as Dubois is a real talent, is his power strong enough to withstand Wilder’s power. That’s a real question, and I don’t think Dubois has the ability at this point to overwhelm Wilder the way Fury did.
“Again, that would make him susceptible to Wilder’s right-hand punch, which I don’t know if Dubois can weather. That’s the way I see it in the fight. It has more questions going into it,” said Arum.
If Wilder can land his right-hand bombs on Dubois, then he’ll have a shot at knocking him out. We haven’t seen Dubois hurt yet during his career, so we don’t know if he’ll be able to handle Wilde’s power.
The excellent news for Dubois is that if Wilder goes through with his fight against Fury in 2020, he’s probably going to lose badly to him again.
A second defeat by Wilder will leave him a mental wreck, and completely unprepared to take on Dubois after that. If Wilder’s just a basketcase by the time Dubois fights him, then it won’t be a competitive match. Wilder would need to be compelling against Dubois for him to have a shot at beating him.
Fury seems to have Wilder’s number, and he could finish him off as an elite level fighter if he beats him again. Some boxing fans already think Fury has beaten Wilder twice, and the third fight can only have one winner.
Dubois ready to knock out Wilder
“If he’s the next step for me, I’m ready to take him,” said Dubois to Seconds Out when asked about his thoughts on a fight against Wilder. “Yeah. Of course,” said Dubois when asked if he’ll knockout Wilder. This is what the Heavyweight game is all about, knockouts, and exciting nights. It’ll be interesting when it happens.”
Dubois is making Wilder look bad in saying that he wants to fight him and that he’ll knock him out. Wilder isn’t even a world champion any longer, and yet he’s got a young gun wanting to use him as a stepping stone.
