Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois Predictions: Knockout night in the big smoke for AJ

Anthony Joshua will challenge IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois this Saturday, September 21. This all-British affair takes place at Wembley Stadium, with DAZN PPV and Sky Sports Box Office broadcasting live. The event is the latest in a string of Riyadh Season events to take place outside of Saudi Arabia.

Here are my Joshua vs Dubois predictions ahead of this mammoth heavyweight collision.

Before getting into the sheer quality of this excellent main event, let us first address the elephant in the room. Beyond the two protagonists and their respective promoters, nobody views this as a world heavyweight title fight. Oleksandr Usyk unified this IBF belt with the WBC, WBO and WBA straps back in June, when he outpointed Tyson Fury. The Ukrainian is the undisputed champion whether the IBF choose to designate him as such or not.

When I spoke to Eddie Hearn last week, he was keen to emphasise the world title credentials of this fight, given the quality of the competitors involved.

“Absolutely, this fight deserves to be for the world heavyweight title. Dubois fought Usyk for the world heavyweight title, (he) gave a decent account of himself. He’s come back. Beat (Jarrell) Miller, beat (Filip) Hrgovic. Hrgovic was the (IBF) interim world champion.”

The Matchroom supremo stopped short of acknowledging Dubois as a genuine world champion, due to the path he took to the belt.

“I think this is the fight where Daniel Dubois should attempt to become world Heavyweight champion. He was elevated to full champion and I don't like that route. If he beats AJ, fair play, you’re world heavyweight champion. But is he world heavyweight champion? Now he is on paper, but I view this as a vacant championship, in my opinion.”

Whatever you think of the title on the line, this is some fight. Joshua is on a superb run, having racked up four wins and three knockouts in his most recent fights. The killer instinct appears to be back, after a few years spent conforming to a cautious style.

Meanwhile, Dubois has bounced back from losing controversially to Usyk with renewed focus. Knockouts of Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic in his last two fights are the best wins on his record. ‘Dynamite’ has come a long way since Joe Joyce knocked the stuffing out of him back in 2020. Dubois lost his ‘0’ but learned a lesson and is now far ahead of the faded ‘Juggernaut’ in the world reckoning.

It is heartening to see an all-British heavyweight superfight of this nature actually take place on home soil. While it bears the Riyadh Season mark, Wembley is the best place for this civil war. Joshua in particular will feel comfortable in these environs, boasting a 3-0 record with three knockouts at the national stadium.

There is another positive omen for Joshua going into this fight, that being his record against fellow Englishmen. Joshua is 7-0 against domestic heavies. While he has tasted defeats to Oleksandr Usyk and Andy Ruiz Jr, AJ’s sparring partner, Simon Ibekwe, thinks the challenger’s aura has returned.

“From being in the ring with him, I feel like now his shots are a lot more calculated. Even when he's on his back foot, front foot, he always seems like he's thinking. It all seems like he has a plan.”

AJ’s plan will involve trying to negate Dubois’ own potent power. ‘Dynamite’ has knocked out 20 of his 21 victims. Joshua has 25 knockouts from 28 wins. The Wembley ring will be utterly packed with power for this one. 

I think the danger each man carries in their knuckles will lead to a tentative opening. Dubois is not a rookie Francis Ngannou figure he can swarm. Equally, Dubois will be cautious as he sizes up a Joshua who has knocked out his last three foes. 

But when this one opens up I think it will be thrilling. Each man has been dropped in their career, with Klitschko and Ruiz doing the honours for Joshua while Kevin Lerena, Joyce and Usyk have had Dubois down. There is a scenario where this fight ends from the first clean power punch.

I think it will go on a little longer than that. I believe these men have learned from being taken to the brink of destruction. But after some full-blooded exchanges and no shortage of bravery, I feel this one will end inside the distance.

Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois Fight Odds

Joshua is 3/10 to prevail in this one. The champion, Dubois, is sat at 3/1. A draw, which seems likely given the power on display, is a 20/1 shot.

Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois Full Card

Anthony Joshua vs. Daniel Dubois (c); IBF heavyweight title 

Tyler Denny (c) vs. Hamzah Sheeraz; European middleweight title 

Anthony Cacace (c) vs. Josh Warrington; IBO super featherweight title 

Joshua Buatsi vs. Willy Hutchinson; Light heavyweight 

Mark Chamberlain vs. Josh Padely; Lightweight

Josh Kelly vs Ishmael Davis; Middleweight

Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois Prediction

I think Joshua’s incredible run of form continues here. The fighter who scored a highlight-reel knockout over Ngannou and made the double-tough Otto Wallin look like a journeyman will be too much for even this much-improved version of Dubois.

The 3/1 price boost on a Joshua knockout is an absolute steal. My original prediction was going to be a knockout between rounds seven and nine, which is currently priced at 11/4. So why not take the pressure off for an even better price and back the anytime stoppage? The price boost has come in clutch when it comes to predicting this heavyweight humdinger.

My prediction is Joshua by knockout at a boosted 3/1. 

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