Two-time Olympian Zhilei Zhang predicts a knockout victory for IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois over Anthony Joshua on September 21st at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Zhang feels that the 26-year-old Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) is surging right now with his recent knockout win over Filip Hrgovic on June 1st in Riyadh and has the youth and hunger on his side over the 34-year-old Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs).
Dubois’ Surge and Joshua’s Stagnation
Joshua hasn’t fought a good opponent since 2022, after his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk. That was the fight in which Joshua went through a mental meltdown after the fight, snatching Usyk’s belts, throwing them out of the ring, grabbing the mic, and filling the air with nonsense.
Promoter Eddie Hearn pulled Joshua back from fighting world-class opposition after that loss and has given him four consecutive lower-level fighters to rebuild him. The Dubois clash will test Joshua’s ability to handle a top-tier fighter.
“I personally favor Daniel Dubois to pull this off because he’s on the surge. He’s hungry, he’s young, and he has the fire in him,” said Zhilei Zhang to the BoxNation YouTube channel, predicting a win for IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois against Anthony Joshua on September 21st at Wembley Stadium in London.
Power and Chin: The Deciding Factors
It won’t be a shock to see Joshua lose this fight because Dubois is a huge puncher and has the kind of power that has traditionally given AJ problems. If Dubois can handle Joshua’s shots for one or two rounds, he could knock him out because AJ won’t be able to take the kinds of punches that he landed against Filip Hrgovic without folding.
“He had a beautiful knockout victory over Filip Hrgovic [on June 1st in Riyadh] last time. So, I really have my faith in the underdog, and I believe we’re three weeks away. I believe he’ll shock the world,” Zhang continued.
“I’m looking forward to that fight. It may end with a knockout, and Joshua’s chin is always a question mark, in my humble opinion. We’ll see what happens. I’m looking forward to that fight,” said Zhang.
