‘Still Has Demons: Heavyweight Rival Says Daniel Dubois ‘Still Has Demons’: “He Could Be A Deer In The Headlights”

Daniel Dubois is now a heavyweight world champion after being elevated by the IBF when Oleksandr Usyk vacated the belt.

The 26-year-old Brit has previously faltered when he stepped up in competition, first against Joe Joyce for the British title and then again against Usyk in his sole world title fight.

Whilst Dubois had a seriously damaged eye in the Joyce fight leading him to take a knee, most consider smartly, he seemed to stay down against the Ukrainian when he looked like he could perhaps carry on.

That loss in particular – in which Dubois had knocked Usyk down but it was ruled to be a low blow – had people questioning his will to fight on.

Despite now having scored two gritty stoppage wins over previously-undefeated Jarrell Miller and Filip Hrgovic, Derek Chisora told Box Nation Dubois still ‘has demons.’

“He’s got demons Daniel. Yeah, I think he’s still got demons. Demons never go away when you have them … Them demons might come back, who knows? In Poland [against Usyk] I was very disappointed cause it was there for him to grab, he didn’t grab it.

Chisora used another example – an undercard bout against Kevin Lerena at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where Dubois was knocked down three times in the first round by the big underdog. He would recover and win by stoppage in the third.

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‘Del Boy’ believes there’s a real chance that the young champion freezes under pressure when he defends his title against Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium.

“Daniel might come out looking like a deer in the headlights, bro. It’s no joke … AJ’s boxed in front of that crowd so many times and he turns up for that crowd. This is the first time Daniel’s fighting in front of proper hardcore English fans, thousands and thousands of them. Last time he did that was at Tottenham, and that nearly went wrong as well.”