Daniel Dubois v Bogdan Dinu

[smashup]

Dubois was starting to look the real deal until he met Joyce, personally i think he's damaged goods after the eye injury, rarely is a fighter the same after a bad injury like that.
Will he ever be a world champion?
Seriously doubt it.

[erics44]

the Joyce fight was really bad match making for daniel, it was clear he was no where near ready and could have taken a beating a lot worse

i won good money on that fight

[Spicoli]

Sounds odd but given the circumstances and what feels like a quickish turn around I'd like to see Dubois have a return under the radar. Let him pound out some can off the air where he can focus on his mentality off a major injury. Get that first shot to the kisser out of the way. Rather than back under the lights let alone right back into a main event title picture immediately . I know, that's unheard of today but he has to show himself before he shows anyone else.

[sanatogen]

Shane McGuigan seems ideal person to bring DD out of himself more.

This should improve his performances and be able to adjust when its not working out.

His reaction to the first Jab less than 10 seconds into the fight with Joyce, was that telling?

[Master]

Daniel Dubois reveals key role Derek Chisora played in recovery from Joe Joyce defeat ahead of comeback

The 23-year-old suffered a fractured eye socket in his European title fight with Joyce last November

Daniel Dubois greets me at the door. The house, tucked away in a quiet Essex village, is approached via electric gates. The gravel drive is host to a high end motor typical of the upmarket setting.

“Lovely place, Daniel. Worth getting whacked about the chops for this, eh?” He chuckles, mostly out of politeness. It struck me, as the words spilled forth, how insensitive my opening gambit must have sounded to a fighter making his way back to the ring after a near career-ending episode.

This was an unveiling of sorts, the first media activity of note with Dubois since he walked into that incessant, long left jab of Joe Joyce. That meeting of emerging heavyweights was seen as a gamble worth taking, one that would propel the heavy-handed Dubois onto the mainstage. There was never a doubt in his mind that victory would be his.



“All of my fights up until then were like ‘if you beat this guy then who’s next?’.” Instead he was left on the deck, a broken eye socket bringing him to his knees assailed by confusion and uncertainty. “It was strange. It was sort of no-man’s land really. I don’t ever want to go through that again if I don’t have to. Just get into this sport again, give it my best shot then get out.”

Dubois has a fatalist mentality. Everything happens for a reason. It was meant to be. This allows him to set the episode not as a failure on his part per se, but as part of his destiny, an unavoidable bump in the road, a rite of passage to which he was bound by God.

“It’s an awakening isn’t it? An idea of how this industry works. I have always known that. But then for it to happen me, it wasn’t expected. But maybe this is the way it was supposed to be. This is my script, how it is written. That wasn’t my night. If you don’t break it will only make you stronger. I think this will show in my next fights, and the next step of my career.”

Dubois is now in the care of Shane McGuigan, the mighty, young trainer who made his reputation taking Carl Frampton and Josh Taylor from novices to world titles, and who also has Lawrence Okolie in his stable. McGuigan’s father, the esteemed former WBA featherweight champion Barry, has likened Dubois to a young Sonny Liston, remarking upon his epic reach and lump hammer right.

The sparring, with Derek Chisora in the early stages of his recovery and now with cruiserweight Okolie and assorted heavyweights under the aegis of McGuigan, has gradually restored trust and belief. McGuigan Jnr has long admired Dubois for his easy power and physical attributes. The task now is to augment gradually, making subtle adjustments, improve footwork, create smarter angles and slicker defence.

Though Dubois claims to be free of any psychological baggage, no one knows for sure how he will react until the next crisis is upon him. It will come. Even the greats must walk through the storm. His return to the ring against Bogdan Dinu is an eliminator for the second-tier WBA belt held by Trevor Bryan and ought to provide some indication of his psychological health.

“I didn’t even think about it [in sparring]. It was just second nature for me to get in there and spar. I’m so motivated and thinking only about winning this fight really. That weren’t even in my mind. I’m glad it held up and is feeling all right.”

Dubois was grateful for the attention of Chisora in those early sparring sessions and the opportunity to process defeat against a fighter who has bounced back from a few. What emerged in their ringside sessions is the narrative power of rising from the canvas. “How many losses as he had? Countless losses and he doesn’t look like he’s going to slow down any time. He is still going. If there is one thing you can learn from him is that a loss is not that bad. It’s about the comeback and if you can make that comeback the best part of the whole story of your boxing career it will be something to remember.”

The undefeated label is for the most part a confected selling point that is rarely tested this early on the way up. Defeat could be the making of Dubois since it stripped away the corrosive impact of hubris, revealing flaws that would have cost him down the line but might now be erased. Does he feel there is truth in that? “Sure, a bit of that. A bit of something to shake me out of that world or that thing in my head. It definitely did that. It showed me we are all human, all flesh and blood. To be successful in this game you have to be smart as well as strong and tough. That’s what I’m going to have to improve on.”

Dubois copped a heap of ill-informed abuse for retiring himself in the tenth. “Quitter” was a common refrain, and from professionals too. “It is interesting how quickly they jumped on me after the fight. There was no time to say ‘boo’ and everyone was on it.” They were wasting their breath. Dubois was too exhausted to care, too “zoned out” to absorb the message.

Fighters know the truth of things. Dubois had spent many a training hour in the company of Joyce. He knew what was coming. The surprise was his failure to adjust when the breakthrough did not materialise. “I have sparred Joe before. I have given him some good whacks and seen him move more than I moved him that night. It was strange. My punches weren’t finding him, but it was what it was, a gruelling night. I can’t change anything about it. Once you are in there doing a certain thing it’s hard to change. It didn’t work. I’ve examined it. Had a close look at things. I think I’ve seen the light and now I’m ready to walk into it bold and brave. I can’t change the past but I’m ready for the future.”

The atmosphere in camp has been wholly restorative. The banter has been flying and Dubois smiling. “It can be very dark if you let yourself fall down. If I were a quitter I would have packed it in. But that’s not the case. I don’t want to think that it’s something I need to hide from. I need to embrace it and work on the changes that I need to do, and make sure I do that quickly.”

Oh, and that bad joke about buying a home with punches taken. Water off a ducks. “Yeah,” he said. “Nice place, innit?”

https://inews.co.uk/sport/boxing/dan...n-dinu-1035402

[Master]

Good performance from the prospect Muhammad winning all 4 rounds against a journey man. He showed him respect which was good to see.

[Master]

Easy win for the popular undefeated propect Liam Davies stopping his opponent in the 2nd round after 4 knock downs. Nice to see crowds back in the halls.