The British and World heavyweight scene became clearer on Saturday night with the expected demolition by ‘Dynamite’ Daniel Dubois of grossly overmatched Ricardo Snijders in east London.
The young Londoner was at his calm, effective best by flooring the hapless Dutchman four times from body shots in the uncompleted four minutes of the match. In many ways it served its purpose by allowing him to get back under the lights in a ‘competitive’ contest, but also allowing him to showcase his skills, in this case straight jabs and hooks followed by crunching body shots, to a tuned in BT Sport audience.
Credit to Sneijders for taking the match at short notice but he was simply outweighed (coming in just under two stone lighter) and outgunned from the opening bell.
Of more significance was the end result; Dubois 15-0 (14 KO’s) keeping his high undefeated stoppage record and thus setting up his October 24th date with undefeated Olympian Joe Joyce 11-0 (10 KO’s) in what promises to be domestic fight of the year.
Socially distanced studio interviews with Joe Joyce (via videolink) and an in attendance Tyson ‘Gypsy King’ Fury revealed the admiration of both fighters for the explosive Dubois. In doing so emphasizing the problems he will present to the division. Joyce paid particular attention to the body work and strong jab of Dubois and that he’ll have to be on his game come October. Dubois in return reiterated his confidence and anticipation of the challenge ahead.
Fury was equally complimentary, referring to an ad-hoc sparring session he had with Dubois at the start of his comeback some two years ago, but thought he would be long out of the sport by the time Dubois becomes a genuine contender.
All eyes are now set on that October date at the O2 Arena, London which should be for the British and Commonwealth titles (currently held by Dubois) and also significantly a high world ranking with the WBC and other key sanctioning bodies. Hopefully lockdown will be much eased by then for a match between two undefeated big men that deserves a full house in attendance.
In a lengthy interview with Tyson Fury either side of the main event, the Gypsy King reiterated the tremendous shape he remains in post-Wilder II, and both he and promoter Frank Warren highlighted the intended date for the Wilder trilogy fight as December 19th, with the US the likely destination.
Some fun was also had in weighing up the long term future of the division and the fight we all want to see – Fury v Joshua – potentially the biggest grossing fight in boxing history and certainly involving British boxers, both ‘world’ champions and at their peak.
They challenged the Matchroom team to “grow a pair” and come to table to negotiate the fight that “has to happen”. With the recent defeat of Dillian Whyte the Gypsy King’s mandatory obligations have now been put back and this fight seems more likely, assuming of course, he comes through the Wilder trilogy fight unscathed.
The British heavyweight scene continues to boom on a world level with some mouthwatering fights ahead. Bring on October !
Some excellent contests were held on Saturday’s card with the pick being Sam Maxwell’s unanimous decision win over former European champion Joe Hughes at super-lightweight. There were also good wins for heavyweight David Adeleye, super-flyweight Sunny Edwards in a quality match with former double Olympian Thomas Essomba and, new lightweight prospect Sam Noakes from Maidstone, Kent.
The Undisputed 