Anthony Joshua has fought both Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker.
He beat Parker for the WBO belt back in 2018 in what was his first fight to go the full 12 rounds. That made the Brit a unified champion, but since then he has been dethroned first by Oleksandr Usyk who beat him in 2021 and 2022, then by Dubois in September who stopped him inside five rounds as Just AJ attempted to become a three-time world champion.
Parker and Dubois were due to fight this past weekend but a late illness to ‘DDD’ meant Parker instead faced late stand-in Martin Bakole and knocked him out inside two rounds.
Speaking to BoxNation, Joshua was asked what chance Parker stands against Dubois if the two meet and believes the New Zealander has ‘a great chance’.
“A great chance. He’s a phenomenal fighter, so is Dubois. Great Chance. I feel like Dubois had to show a little bit more with his fight with Hrgovic, he had to dig deep. His fight with Miller, he had to dig deep, his fight with me he kind of like, it’s like he announced himself as the heavyweight slayer as he called himself. Dubois, he’s just edging it.”
Despite Parker coming through adversity after being knocked down in his victory over Zhilei Zhang, ‘AJ’ still sounded caution about his ability to fight through tough moments.
“Look at Parker, he’s gone in there and knocked out Bakole. If it gets tough, I’ve seen it from Dubois, he’s managed to come through, with Parker, he’s gone in there and blasted out Bakole. It would have been nice to see a bit more, see what his engine’s like in the later rounds, see what grit he’s got, but he’s gone in there and done what we all want to do as heavyweights and knock him out.”
Parker will be hoping the Dubois honours their fight and he gets his world title shot, though some believe Dubois may instead push to go straight in with Usyk for an undisputed clash.
