Uber confident Daniel Dubois promises that Anthony Joshua will "respect" him after heavyweight title showdown
Daniel Dubois is not bothered by what his opponent Anthony Joshua thinks of him. The 27-year-old will attempt the first defense of his IBF heavyweight title against Joshua in the headlining bout of the boxing card set to go down on Sept. 21.
Dubois is a relative newcomer compared to former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua. While some may believe that Joshua's experience of competing at the highest level will be the difference between the two, Dubois is confident in his ability to come out on top. In a recent interview with TNT Sports, he said:
"He's a man with two hands and two fists. So, anything he brings, I need to trump that, get on top of that. Anything he brings, I need to shut it down and just take this fight to him. Maybe make it a dog fight.
He added:
I think [a dog fight favors me]. I thrive in chaos... Making it wild, messy and whatever it needs to be... Shutting down his range, and all of that timing and textbook boxing stuff might go out the window. So let's see."
When asked if he thinks Joshua respects him as a boxer, Dubois responded:
"It's hard to say [weather Joshua respects him or not]. I'm going to make him respect me on the night though."
Check out Daniel Dubois' comments below (2:58):
Anthony Joshua says he doesn't want respect "given" to him, wants to "earn" it instead
Anthony Joshua hit a rough patch in his career when he lost the heavyweight title to Andy Ruiz Jr. Although he avenged his loss and reclaimed his title, he went on to suffer back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk, who went on to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. A large section of the boxing community heavily criticized the former champion at the time.
However, he has climbed back to title contention with four straight victories. In a recent interview with TNT Sports, Joshua was asked if he feels disrespected. He replied:
"I don't ever want any respect. I'm normal. I'm like the man on the street. I'm no different from anyone that I shake hands with. I don't actually want any respect from anyone, especially not in this game. You know what I want to do? I want to earn it. I don't want it given to me. I want to earn it and I've got a chance to do it on Saturday."
Check out Anthony Joshua's comments below (7:16):