Anthony Joshua's next opponent is due to be announced this Wednesday, at Wembley Stadium on September 21st.
Daniel Dubois: Frontrunner
Daniel Dubois holds the vacant IBF heavyweight title and is considered a likely contender to face AJ.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has said that in order for him to take on Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs), the IBF belt must be available. It is unclear whether Hearn would agree to take on Dubois without the IBF belt.
It's a risky fight for the 34-year-old Joshua to fight without a title on the line, but to fill the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium he needs to fight someone the British fans want to see in large numbers – and that won't happen with Zhang Zilei or Joseph Parker.
Dubois: A young and powerful threat
At 26, Dubois has the strength and youth to beat Joshua, plus he's faced much better opponents recently.
Hearn had trained Joshua against eventual favorites in his last four fights and had brought him back after consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk. After his second loss, Joshua had a mental breakdown and acted as if he had gone mad.
After seeing Joshua explode with rage in the ring, it's hard to blame Hearn for putting him against four straight weaker fighters.
At the same time, it would be disingenuous to say that his trainer, Ben Davison, has rebuilt him like new and made him a better fighter than he ever was, because there is no evidence to back up that claim.
The four weaker fighters Joshua beat were fighters he beat before he even turned pro, and as an amateur in 2010 Joshua would have beaten the four fighters he's faced recently.
Joshua's last four fights were three journeyman bouts against former UFC fighters with one fight under his belt, and Hearn was putting Joshua against the weakest opponents possible to help him bounce back mentally and get fans to believe in him again.
Expert predictions
“Can Daniel Dubois beat Anthony Joshua? The answer is, of course he can. Personally, I don't think so. Daniel Dubois' last few fights have shown that he's capable of giving it his all. He can take a beating, he's got a good engine and he's got the confidence,” web host Ade Oladipo said on his YouTube channel.
Dubois' chances of winning depend on: If he can withstand Joshua's power, he can knock AJ out if he takes the fight. Joshua cannot withstand Dubois's heavy power shots or withstand Dubois' pressure for 12 rounds like he did against Andy Ruiz.
The only way Joshua can win this fight without a knockout is if he employs the same safety-first style that Wladimir Klitschko used in his 2019 rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr. If AJ fights that style, he could potentially last 12 rounds as long as he doesn't tire or get caught on the ropes by Dubois.
“The ability has always been there. Everybody knew he was a good boxer,” Ade said. “The only question is the resignation and his mindset. Under Don Charles, he seems to have improved in both areas.”
Dubois has changed mentally since his loss to Usyk in 2023 and appears to have become tougher.
The punches Dubois blocked against Usyk were weaker than those he received in his previous two fights against Filip Hrgovic and Jarrell Miller, both of whom landed plenty of blows on Dubois, but he was able to deflect them and wear down his opponent with his own hard punches, scoring two knockouts.
“You saw it against Oleksandr Usyk under Don Charles and you saw it against Jarrell Miller where you were like, 'this is kind of bad,' but he found something. He definitely found something against Filip Hrgovic,” Ade said.
“So, he's just getting better and better. There's an argument to be made. You look at who he's fought in his last three fights, who AJ's fought in his last three fights. He's easily fought better opponents. There's no argument to be made. That's a fact. Hrgovic, Jarrell Miller, Usyk. If you look at AJ, he's fought Ngannou, Wallin, Helenius. [and Jermaine Franklin]. “
You can't compare the opponents Dubois has faced in his last three fights to the ones Joshua has fought, but Joshua didn't intentionally fight weaker opponents like AJ did.
Hearn was trying to tackle Joshua on a big project to rebuild his career after his second loss to Usyk, and he didn't need to put Joshua against strong opposition and he did a good job of that.
“Dubois is on a roll right now and the reason I don't think he can beat AJ is because against Hrgovic, Hrgovic never missed a one-two punch,” Ade said.
