Former cruiserweight champion questions Dubois’s renewed alliance with trainer.
When Daniel Dubois fought Joe Joyce towards the end of 2020, he was the favourite to win. And not just win, but confirm his status as a prospect, fulfil the potential so many believed he had.
The men had a combined record of 26-0 with 24 KOs between them, but Dubois (who was younger by almost 12 years and had had more fights) was expected to get the job done in convincing fashion.
So, it was a shock to many when Dubois voluntarily went down in the 10th frame, his left orbital bone broken as a result of being the recipient of many a Joe Joyce jab. With his eye badly swollen, Dubois allowed himself to be counted out.
More recently, Daniel Dubois has faced criticism from those who believed he displayed similar tendencies in his two fights with Oleksandr Usyk. On both occasions, Dubois stayed down after being dropped despite the opinion of many that he could have gotten up.
Both Usyk fights were under the tutelage of Don Charles, the same man who orchestrated Dubois’s resurgent run of form in a trio of wins over Filip Hrgovic, Jarrell Miller, and Anthony Joshua.
But following the second defeat to Usyk, Dubois left Don Charles to join up with Tony Sims.
It isn’t uncommon for a fighter to switch trainers after a loss. After all, if a fighter can blame their shortcomings on having the wrong style or tactics for a particular opponent, they can tell themselves that a new approach under a new trainer is what is necessary.
This thought process makes sense. Only, in this instance, it seems that that way of thinking didn’t last long, as Dubois has now left Tony Sims without even having fought under him and has rejoined Don Charles.
This decision left many confused, and in an exclusive interview yesterday with Boxing King Media, former long-reigning cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson shared his thoughts on why Dubois might really have rejoined with his former trainer.
“When the union [with Sims] was initially announced,” said the 59-year-old.
“I thought any of that foolishness that went on under Don’s tutelage, you know, with outside interferences, Tony won’t have any of that, and he’ll cut it off at the legs. And I think, if he has been dictated to in any way, shape, or form, he would’ve straight away said, ‘This ain’t happening, not in a million years.'”
Nelson further went on to say, “I’m just guessing, but I reckon that if Stanley [Daniel’s dad] got involved in any way, shape, or form, Tony would say, ‘No, not playing that game.’ And Stanley knows his son Daniel, so he had to make a decision: ‘I’ve either got to stay outside, which I can’t, or step inside.’ So, for him to go back to Don, it kinda tells me that he’s got more control over Don or how Don deals with his son.”
To listen to Johnny Nelson’s full thoughts, watch the interview in its entirety here:
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