NEILSON NOTES: Daniel Dubois v Joe Joyce

Daniel Dubois takes on Joe Joyce tonight in a battle of the heavyweights so to weigh-in on the bout, boxing promoter Mark Neilson gives his thoughts ahead of the bell.

Boxing fans should expect fireworks this weekend as two of Britain’s biggest and heavy-hitting heavyweight prospects face each other in a mouth-watering main event on BT Sport. Daniel Dubois will take on Joe Joyce and in my view, this is the best all-British fight in a long time.

Dubois stands at 6’5” and Joyce at 6’6” which means tonight there will be two giants of the division come together at a great stage in their careers. Both are on the cusp of the world stage with the winner of this bout putting themselves in the firing line for a shot at one of the World title belts currently held by Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.  

Whoever you are backing tonight, credit must to bother fighters for facing each other, with the winner set to make headlines in the boxing world whilst the loser will inevitably drop further down the pecking order of those in line for a title shot. 

In fairness, both could have taken their separate routes towards a world title but this is by far the most entertaining.
Everyone I have spoken to in and out of the industry is looking forward to this fight and some recognition must go to the promoter Frank Warren for getting the fight made.

Dubois (15-0 14KO’s) is the bookies favourite but beyond the hype, it is realistically a 50/50 fight.  
Both fighters have impressive amateur careers with Joyce winning a Silver medal at the last Olympics with most viewers believing he’d nicked the decision only to take the loss. And Joyce (11-0 10KO’s) has also beaten the better professional opposition so far, but as the older man, he has been fast-tracking his career.  

Both undefeated fighters have impressive KO %’s with each only having been the distance once in a very similar 10 round contests with very experienced opponents, but I am expecting a stoppage to be the most likely outcome in this contest.

Dubois is the younger and fresher boxer as Joyce’s substantial amateur career means he has more miles on the clock, however the latter has a great engine which is a factor that mustn’t be underestimated.
It really is an intriguing fight and the fights fans are in for a real treat. 

My view, it’s either Dubois in the first 6 rounds or Joyce if it goes into the later rounds. That said, this is heavyweight boxing and anything can happen so be ready for fireworks.

Live on BT Sport 28.11.2020