Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois forced apart and almost come to blows before bout after ‘AJ threatens rival with chair’
ANTHONY JOSHUA and Daniel Dubois almost came to blows three months before their world title super-fight.
The heavyweight Londoners will clash on September 21 at a glittering Wembley stadium – in front of the biggest audience in the ground’s history – for a mega-money purse.
But they almost kicked-off the rivalry early in the dark and dingy bowels of the little arena next door before 34-year-old AJ walked away from the scene.
And the two-time champ warned the wonderboy eight years his junior that he was a dangerous street fighter – survivings scrapes on the streets and with the law – long before he was a celebrated boxer and respected OBE
“Yeah we had a bit of aggro,” the London 2012 legend grinned. “It’s good.
“There are two aspects to it, the competitive side, the Queensberry Rules of boxing. But there is also the instinct that one has, as a fighter.
“And that is just how it is. Before I boxed, I was a good fighter, that’s an instinct you have when someone calls you out.
“He said ‘let’s go now’. And I said: ‘let’s go then’. No security, I just stepped away, I thought I would be the bigger man.”
Dubois put the tense situation down to the brutal jet lag he was suffering after a 12-hour flight back from Copacabana beach in Brazil.
The 26-year-old Adonis had to cut short a busman’s holiday training and recovering in the South American paradise to zoom back to London to announce their clash.
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Joshua vs Dubois full Wembley fight card
- Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois
- Anthony Cacace vs Josh Warrington
- Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson
- Hamzah Sheeraz vs Tyler Denny
- Josh Kelly vs Liam Smith
- Mark Chamberlain vs Josh Padley
And that helped spark a fractious moment with the superstar he was once taken up to Sheffield to help with sparring sessions, nine years ago, before he became a legend of British sport.
“I was jet-lagged that was all,” the powerhouse said.
“My mind was not in the right place, but it was all good and all part of the fun and getting into the groove.”
Hall-of-fame promoter Frank Warren – who missed out on AJ’s professional signature after his 2012 coronation – is the mastermind behind Dubois’ career.
And he witnessed the opening round unfold and he reckons his man has the upperhand already for a fight that has all the ingredients to be a red-hot firefight.
“It just nearly went off upstairs,” he purred a couple of days before the gold-dust tickets go on sale.
“But you will have to wait until the film goes out to see it. It was quite lively. We did a face-off around a table and it got a bit spicy.”
And Warren’s promotional opposite number Eddie Hearn revealed the tension was so high the pair had to be pulled apart.
He told The Stomping Ground: “It was at the end when they said, ‘September 21st and not before,’ and Daniel said, ‘Well if you want to go now, I’ll go now.’
“AJ said, ‘Do you want me to smash this chair across your face? Don’t ever disrespect me like that again.’ And he went for him. They had to be pulled apart.”