Joshua vs Dubois Betting Preview & Tips

Big time heavyweight boxing returns this Saturday night and it promises to be an explosive night at Wembley Stadium. Anthony ‘AJ’ Joshua takes on Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois for the IBF title and the bookies make Joshua the 1.30 favourite with Dubois a generous looking 4.50 underdog. Can AJ continue his redemption, or will Dynamite detonate? Find out in our Joshua vs Dubois betting preview.  

Joshua vs Dubois – The Tale Of The Tape

*Weights are for last fights

Anthony Joshua

So, the general consensus seems to be that AJ is back, big style. Is he really? After he was stopped by Andy Ruiz jr and beaten twice by Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua lost a lot of his lustre. Sky’s poster boy was no longer the flavour of the month as his limitations were well and truly exposed.

Yes, Joshua has always had punching power but that will only get you so far. His reliance on that and his lack of technical nous came back to bite him vs Usyk and Ruiz but he tried to somewhat reinvent himself under a new trainer, Derrick James.

More Measured

In his first fight back after losing that second fight to Usyk, we saw a more measured version of Joshua vs Jermaine Franklin Jr. In a controlled display he won easily on the scorecards but the fight was as dull as dishwater. Joshua then dispatched a below par Robert Helenius with a seventh round KO in another borefest, his last fight under James’ tutelage.

For his next fight, Joshua turned to Ben Davidson to train him. In that contest we saw a more proactive version of Joshua, who dished out plenty of early punishment to the overmatched Otto Wallin. The Swede retired on his stool after the fifth after taking a heavy left hook. Joshua’s last fight was a circus vs Francis Ngannou and it would be folly to judge him on that performance.

AJ now faces arguably his toughest opponent since Usyk. Will he be up to the task? It will all depend on whether he can evade Dubois’ power shots. If he does, he’ll probably cruise to victory but as we saw against Andy Ruiz, if he gets hit on the chin it could be curtains.   

Daniel Dubois

Dynamite is a fitting name for this huge puncher. Twenty of Daniel Dubois’ wins have come by way of knockout and he is capable of hurting opponents badly with both hands. Dubois’ first loss came in 2020 vs Joe Joyce. He suffered a fractured eye socket and was stopped by Joyce in the tenth. It was a crushing defeat for Dubois who was only 23 years old at the time but he is a better fighter now.

After that fight he racked up four successive KO wins, all before the end of the fourth round. Then, he took on the now unified Champion Oleksandr Usyk and he was robbed by the referee, Luis Pabon. Dubois hit Usyk with a sickening shot to the gut which put the Ukrainian down in the fifth. It would have been a stoppage victory for the Brit but the ref ruled it was a low blow and Usyk rallied and stopped a gassed Dubois in the ninth.

Hrgovic Rout

Dubois produced one of his best performances last time against the highly touted Filip Hrgovic. He bashed the Croatian up for eight rounds and the doctor stepped in and stopped the fight with Hrgovic’s face looking like a butcher’s block.

Dubois showed against Usyk that he deserves to be at this level and Joshua could be the perfect opponent at the perfect time for him. If he can detonate one of those big right (or left) hands on Joshua’s temple or chin, the shock could be on.

Joshua vs Dubois – The Verdict

Two men with KO percentages of 89% and 95% will surely serve up a thriller on Saturday night. The oddsmakers make Joshua a very warm favourite but should there be such a big difference in the odds? We don’t think so.

Joshua has been there, done that and got the t-shirt and he isn’t getting any younger at 34. Will he have the stomach for the fight if Dubois takes him into the trenches? His last four fights have been strolls in the park and while he does have a reach advantage, it will be fascinating to see how he reacts if Dubois connects with a big punch.

Joshua’s chin has never been convincing and if Dubois can land something in the right place, the jelly legs will be on display again. Of course, there is always a chance that Joshua could land a big punch on Dubois and knock him out too, that’s heavyweight boxing.

However, Dubois’ last fight should have him better prepared for a proper battle compared to Joshua’s freak show fight vs Ngannou and while odds of 6.0 for a Dubois win by KO/TKO/DQ are tempting, we are recommending a straight bet on Dubois to win at odds of 4.50. Fingers crossed for an action packed scrap and may the best man win.  

Joshua vs Dubois Betting Tip: Dubois to win @ 4.50

-DaveStevos